Electric Limbo
by Jan of Arc
Summary: Reworked from start to finish - re-read required. Rivalry between two of Bon Temps oldest families ends when they team up to keep their businesses alive … but the rivalry with others in the same business just begins. Geek-centric fluff with a large side order of comedy. Warnings for Star Trek quotes, WoW references and Eric being a huge Thundercats fan. :o) AH/OOC.
1. Dreams Unaccomplished & Dreams Shattered

**Electric Limbo**

Summary: Reworked version. Rivalry between two of Bon Temps oldest families ends when they team up to keep their businesses alive ... but the rivalry with others in the same business just begins. Geek-centric fluff with a large side order of comedy. Warnings for Star Trek quotes, WoW references and Eric being a huge Thundercats fan. :o) AH/OOC.

_A/N: There will be some references to Geek pop culture throughout this story – some of you might get the humour that comes with them, some might not. I'm happy to answer any queries about them. This fic was inspired by BEGreen – who, after reading The Guilded Cage, informed me that there was a distinct lack of geek fics :o) _

_It's taken a very long time, but not only is this fic reworked to my satisfaction – it's also complete! Now if I could find the inspiration to complete the other in-progress fics I have then I'll be ecstatic! As usual, reviews are not required but if you feel you want to leave feedback it's much appreciated._

**Chapter 1 – Dreams unaccomplished and dreams shattered.**

_Bellefleur's Electrical Emporium – Bon Temps_

Bill Compton sipped at his coffee and gazed longingly at the delivery truck that was being unloaded two stores down. His heart ached as he watched Hadley walk in to Stackhouse Computer Creations with the latest Dell XPS. His eyes welled as Sam followed behind her with a box of Intel i7-990x processors.

_It should be me working with all that hardware. I would be almost finished with my degree if I hadn't been so damn..._

"Bill!" His Uncle Andy's voice interrupted his thoughts. "You better not be moping about losing your scholarship again. There's a stove and a refrigerator ready to get put in the van for Maxine Fortenberry – get to that instead of cryin' a river over helpin' your girlfriend cheat on her test!"

Bill nodded and walked over to the desk to put down his mug and pick up the delivery note. Shipping Maxine's new appliances to her was bound to blacken his mood even more. For the last four years the first thing she said when they bumped into each other was that he should have stuck with Sookie Stackhouse instead of getting mixed up with Lorena Ball. Bill knew she was right, everyone knew she was right, but that didn't make it any less hurtful to hear.

He was a computer science superstar in Bon Temps high, that's how he met Sookie – they both loved technology. For Sookie it was practically in her genes but Bill had to struggle against his Mother's family – the Bellefleurs – and their reluctance to enter the computer age. Things with Sookie were perfect, until Lorena started paying him attention - the kind of attention that Sookie wasn't ready to give him yet. Like the hormonally charged teenager that he was, he thought with his dick rather than his head.

Sookie had been hurt when he cheated on her but, in her natural warm-hearted manner, tried to warn him. She must have told him a dozen times that Lorena was after something but he never listened. He was far too busy getting laid to listen. Lorena asked him such a small favour, and it was so simple to accomplish. But Bill got caught stealing the answers to the SATs. His School didn't care that they weren't for him and his full ride to LSU disappeared with his love-life.

"Like tears in the rain." Bill sighed.

"Bill! Stop talkin' to yourself and load the damn van!"

Andy Bellefleur shook his head and muttered all the way back to the office. He'd never really liked Bill; there was just something 'off' about him. There was something off about his Dad, Jesse, too but Andy didn't want to throw any accusations around. The Comptons had lived next door to the Stackhouses for as long as there had been a Bon Temps and there had never been a Stackhouse that was normal. Stood to reason that the Comptons would be just as full of crazy ideas and talking nonsense about family meaning more than money. Andy was a Bellefleur and proud as they come, the Bellefleurs had always been the richest, most successful family in Bon Temps – and no Stackhouse would ever take that away from them!

The names Stackhouse and Bellefleur were synonymous with rivalry in Bon Temps but it reached its peak in the 1960s. A small strip mall was built and both families rented units, both families refused to tell anyone what they would be selling and both families opened electrical appliance stores on the very same day. While Bellefleur's Electrical Emporium catered to a more exclusive clientele, Stackhouse Appliance-Mart sold every kind of quality to every kind of customer. Through the 70s and into the 80s, Bellefleur's Electrical teetered on the edge of bankruptcy but never quite fell over. In the late 80s, they got a reprieve in the form of Mitchell Stackhouse's crazy friend Fintan. Stackhouse Appliance-Mart was transformed into Stackhouse Computer Creations, leaving Bellefleur Electrical with a monopoly on household appliances, but also with an intense aversion to following their rival into higher technology merchandise.

Andy never forgot the day that the change over happened. His Grandmother, Caroline, called them all into the office and told them that Bellefleurs don't follow – they lead. No matter how much money they could make from games consoles or home computers, Bellefleur Electrical would never sell them because that would mean admitting the Stackhouses had gotten there first.

Once the van was loaded and Portia came out of the office to mind the store, Andy and Bill made their way to Maxine's house. The back of the van had barely been opened when she said it.

"Bill, you look so sad! If you had just stuck with Sookie, you'd be down there in Baton Rouge living it up just like she is!"

"You saw her? Sookie?" Bill stopped trying to shift the stove and waited with bated breath.

"She came back last month for a visit and, oh my, she's a pretty young lady! Happy as a clam too!"

Bill sighed and nodded, wondering what Sookie was doing – right at that moment. Was she sifting through the guts of computers to test motherboards? Was she creating an exciting new programme? Was she having a blast with her new college friends playing EverQuest? Bill bitterly shifted the stove into the right position for Andy to help him manoeuvre it inside Maxine's house and tried not to imagine it was him doing those things instead of Sookie.

_LSU Baton Rouge – Annie Boyd Hall_

Sookie grunted as the pounding got louder. She thought, at first, that this was the worst hangover she'd ever had but after a moment she realised that the pounding wasn't in her head. She blinked in the bright morning light as voices could be heard outside her door. Her roommate, Pam Ravenscroft, was shambling toward the door as it started to shake with the force of more pounding.

"Alright, alright, I'm coming."

Pam was still rubbing her eyes as campus security pushed into the room, followed by the Dean of the College of Science. Sookie was confused at their grim expressions and got out of bed to stand next to Pam.

"Is there something wrong?"

"I'm afraid there is Miss. Stackhouse." The Dean flicked his hand and Campus Security started pulling the room apart.

"Wait, what are you doing?" Sookie immediately woke fully and stepped toward the group of men and women tipping over her furniture and rifling her closet.

Dean Threadgill put a hand out to stop her and Pam gently put an arm around Sookie. "What are they looking for?"

"We've found something, Sir." A security guard with 'Flower' stitched on her left breast held up a bag that made Sookie gasp.

"Is that what I think it is?" Sookie pointed a shaky finger at the package.

"Miss. Stackhouse, we got a ... tipoff that you've not only been using but you've been supplying Marijuana to a number of students here."

Another Campus Guard held out two cups with lids. "We'll need you ladies to fill these up for drug testing."

"But I didn't do anything." Pam blinked and shook her head. "Sookie hasn't done anything either – I'm her roommate. I think I'd notice if she was selling pot!"

Numbly, Sookie made her way to the bathrooms to pee in her cup. She couldn't quite comprehend what was happening and wished she hadn't gone to that party last night. Why Felicia had invited her still confused Sookie – she was under the impression Felicia was still holding a grudge because she went on a date with her boyfriend while they were on a break. But Felicia had been nice to her last night; she had even baked brownies for the party. Sookie remembered the brownies were nice but that she came back to her room after two beers because she was feeling woozy.

While Sookie was in the bathroom, Pam was trying to reason with the Dean. She had no idea how the Marijuana got in Sookie's closet – but she was damn sure she would have known if Sookie was a drug dealer. No matter how hard she tried to defend her roommate, he kept saying how they had physical evidence and signed witness statements and that soon they would have scientific evidence too. The more she mouthed off, the angrier Dean Threadgill got, until J. Flower took Pam by the arm and marched her to the bathroom to fill her own cup. Pam could hear Sookie crying in the stall next to hers and was at a complete loss as to what she could say to calm Sookie down.

"I don't know why this is happening, Sook, I wish they could just bring in the logic probe."

"Is this a set up, Pam? If I knew I was going to get pwned this morning, I'd never have gone to that party last night!"

"Shut up you two. Just piss in the cups and get back out here."

The less Jade Flower heard from these two the better. She knew the Dean was already pissed that his top student had been implicated – and by one of the biggest slackers on campus, but the statements had been signed and the evidence had been found. If he didn't act on it there would be hell to pay. Once the girls had filled their cups, Jade had them write their names on them and place them in a clear plastic bag. She escorted them back to their room and told them to sit tight until the Dean called for them.

Sookie threw herself on her bed and Pam sat next to her, trying to calm her friend. "This is all a big mix up, Sook, Dean Threadgill knows you. He knows you're the hardest working person in your class. He knows you're not a goddamned stoner!"

"He said they had witness statements, Pam. Who would tell lies about me like that? Who would put a large amount of Marijuana in my room to bolster said lies?" Her eyes welled up and her nose tickled as it filled with snot. "Who would want me out of College so bad, they would see me sent to prison?"

Pam's eyes widened. "Prison?"

"Well, yeah, that's where they usually send drug dealers. What are the chances the Felicia has both the brains and the balls to cook up this plot?"

"Slim to none." Pam snorted. "And her boy toy, Clancy, and all the hangers on are from the shallow end of the user pool too. But they're rich and they rode Mommy and Daddy's checkbook all the way here – those kids are like the Borg – one or two can be handled, but the hive mind is hard to beat."

Sookie nodded sadly and both young women settled into a level of despondency they had no idea existed until that point.

_Stackhouse Computer Creations – Bon Temps_

Adele's eyes flicked to her cell phone as it vibrated across the top of the desk playing the William Tell Overture. She tore herself away from the boredom of working out staff costs to answer it, but soon found herself wishing she could have remained immersed in its banality.

"Adele Stackhouse speaking, may I ask who is calling?"

"_Mrs. Stackhouse, this is Dean Threadgill from the College of Science at LSU. I'm afraid there's been some trouble with your Granddaughter."_

"What kind of trouble? Is she in the hospital?"

"_No, ma'am, Sookie ... will not be finishing her degree at LSU. We had some students report that she was using and selling drugs, drugs were found in her room and there was also evidence of drug use in her urine sample."_

"My Granddaughter is an exemplary student with the highest grades in her class – she's a good girl. She does **not** use or sell drugs. I urge you to investigate this thoroughly."

"_We have, which is why we are simply expelling her rather than pressing charges and getting the police involved. I know your Granddaughter – and I know that she's a good girl. But drugs were found in her system and in her room, the physical evidence is circumstantial but supports the claims that students brought to me."_

"I see. Well, Dean Threadgill, when can I expect my Granddaughter to arrive home?"

"_I'm sure she'll call you once she's calmed down from the disciplinary meeting. Please trust that if I find any evidence that supports Sookie's side of the story – I __**will**__fight to get her back into this school."_

"Thank you for calling, Dean Threadgill."

Adele hung up and narrowed her eyes at the phone. She was torn, on one hand she was livid that Sookie's dream had just been shattered but on the other she was ecstatic that her youngest Grandchild would be coming home. No matter how much Adele wanted Sookie to stay in Bon Temps and use her computer talents in the family business, she wanted to see her use that gift to spread her wings and move on to bigger and better things.

_What's for you won't go by you. If Sookie is meant for a big fancy IT job then it'll come to her._

Inside, Adele hoped that Sookie was meant to stay in Bon Temps and take over the store when she was too old and grey to manage anymore. Her other Grandchildren, Jason and Hadley, were ... not built for management. They neither had the brains or the diplomatic skills to really make it work. But Sookie ... Sookie could run Stackhouse Computer Creations standing on her head. Adele called Jason into her office and told him to drive to Baton Rouge right away – she wasn't leaving Sookie to pack up her things and drive all the way North on her lonesome. She dialled Sookie's cell phone and hoped that her Granddaughter wasn't so upset she couldn't answer.

_LSU Baton Rouge _

Sookie and Pam looked bleakly at the boxes that contained the last three years of their lives. While there were a lot of whispers that Sookie had been expelled for something she hadn't done – Pam was in the more unfortunate situation of several students and CCTV cameras watching her confront and physically attack Felicia.

"I can't believe you were stupid enough to hunt her down and kick her ass, Pam. Seriously?"

"I ... I had a Hit Girl moment. I'm not quite sure what came over me but I couldn't just let her get away with that."

Sookie sighed. "I appreciate that, I really do. But you've ruined your career path. What about your CSI dream?"

"You're my favourite person, Sookie. Generally, I hate people. They suck – but you're worth fighting for. I'll find something, I'm sure my cousin, Eric, can set me up in a job in his store. He's an assistant manager now."

"Wait ... Eric? _The_ Eric? The Eric that took your virginity? He's your cousin?"

"Second cousin, but it's not icky. He was hot and we got hold of my Dad's Havana Club stash. Don't judge me." Pam narrowed her eyes jokingly at her best friend.

"Uh ... whatever, Ravenscroft ... or should you be changing that to Lannister?"

"Shut-up banjo Betty or I'll kick _your_ ass like I did with Felicia."

"Oh yeah? You wanna take this to PvP?"

"No way."

Pam grinned and pulled her umbrella out of a box. Sookie followed suit by grabbing her full size replica lightsabre and they circled each other, both trying not to laugh as they knew what was coming next. They raised their 'weapons' and let out their war cry.

"HOT PIE!"

"What the fuck is goin' on in here?"

Jason stood in the doorway, bewildered. He was pretty sure his Gran had sent him down here to help Sookie bring her things back to Bon Temps because she'd been expelled. But she wasn't acting like she'd been kicked out of College.

"Jason!"

As soon as Sookie saw her brother, the reality of the packing and the boxes came crashing down on her. Her lightsabre dropped onto the floor next to her and the moment of fun between her and her friend was gone. Jason shook his head at his little sister and grabbed the closest box to him.

"Best get started, Sook. We should be able to fit everything into both our cars."

Sookie nodded and picked up her lightsabre, cradling it gently as she put it back in the box with her collection of Orcs and Space Marines.

_Buy Everything – Shreveport_

Eric smiled as he saw her walk in. She must have been in her late twenties, not particularly well dressed, a little saggy round the middle – a prime target for his sales technique. He watched her as she ambled up and down the aisles until she came to the display of brand new washing machines. That's when he struck.

"A beautiful woman deserves beautiful things." He smiled his biggest, whitest smile and winked at her, making her blush like a schoolgirl. "Are you in the market for some new ... equipment?"

As he said the word 'equipment' he brushed back his suit jacket and placed his hand in the front pocket of his pants, drawing her attention to his pelvis. She licked her lips and nodded before clearing her throat and giving her head a little shake, as if to wake from a daydream.

_Works every time._ Eric thought smugly.

"Uh ... yes. I'm looking for a washer dryer combo."

"Well, come with me and I'll show you everything I've got."

Eric winked suggestively and took off his suit jacket before turning his back to walk in front of his customer, knowing full well she would ogle his behind. He was surprised to see his second cousin, Pam, standing with a shocked look on her face as he spun round.

"Pam, what are you doing in Shreveport?"

"Looking for a job, I was hoping you could set me up but if I need to come on to people who fell off the horde bus, then I'll pass."

Eric rolled his eyes and pointed to the Nerd Squad desk. "I'm busy right now, go and wait over there with the ... technical support unit. They speak your language. I'll come to see you when I'm done."

He shook his head and plastered the smile back onto his face, ready to flirt with the pathetic creature to the point she would buy something and get him a pretty penny in commission.

"So, Mrs ..."

"It's Miss. Miss Maudette Pickens." She held her hand out and Eric grasped it firmly, curling his fingers around hers.

"Well, Maudette, I'm Eric and I'm going to make sure you get _everything_ you need."

Pam curled her lip in distaste as she watched Eric flirt shamelessly with his customer. She leaned on the Tech Support desk and picked up a Nerd Squad coaster to play with while she waited on him.

"Well helloooooo. My software just turned to hardware."

Pam blinked at the man in front of her. He was cute, if you liked guys. Pam hadn't been attracted to a guy in a long time but she never discounted them as an option – unless they hit her with corny pick up lines.

"You're not my type but when I'm looking for a four inch floppy to fill my drive I'll call you."

She huffed and turned her back on the desk, hoping she wouldn't get hit on again. She watched the interactions between the Salesmen and the Tech guys and was transported back to high school. It was Jocks versus the Chess club every day in Buy Everything – but which side would she be on? She was pretty and had a nice figure, Pam smoothed her pale blonde hair and tried to imagine herself as part of the sales team but as she listened, and tried not to laugh along with, the jokes that the Nerd Squad were making ... she wondered if she had the IT smarts to join with them.

When Eric was finished with Maudette, he made his way over to Pam. He took in her appearance and shook his head.

"What brings you to Shreveport, Pam? Shouldn't you be in Baton Rouge doing ... whatever your degree is in?"

"Bio-sciences." She heard the nerds behind her take a collective sharp breath. "But I got kicked out. I was hoping you could maybe help me out on the job front."

"You got kicked out?"

"Long story. So can you hook me up with a job or what?"

"You came here to ask for a job wearing Converse and a T-shirt that says 'All your base are belong to us'?"

Pam rolled her eyes. "Can you help me or should I see if the local diners are looking for waitresses?"

Eric sighed and looked around the store. "We need someone in small appliances – but you're on trial for four weeks. Come in at 9am tomorrow ... and wear something ... normal."

Pam saluted Eric and pushed away from the counter. "Thanks Cuz. I promise I'll wear a skirt and blouse but please tell me I don't have to throw myself at the customers to sell stuff?"

"Technically, we're not cousins." Eric narrowed his eyes at Pam. "And, no, you don't – I just find it's the best way to sell high cost items to lonely women."

"And pick up chicks." One of the geeks chimed in before slinking off away from Eric's hard gaze.

"Whatever." Pam chuckled. "Just make sure it doesn't backfire on you."

_Bon Temps Baptist Church – Meeting Hall_

Jerome Bernard Du Rone surveyed the small group in the hall. His son, JB, stood a little behind him next to the flip chart. Sookie smiled at JB and he smiled back her. She had been back in Bon Temps for a few weeks now. The first week had been spent in bed or playing WoW to escape how dismal her outlook on life was. The second week had been spent on the couch watching Buffy the Vampire Slayer DVDs. The last few days had been spent in the store, admiring the stock and backing up the drives on the main PC in the office.

She'd already encountered her first boyfriend, Bill, now she guessed it was the turn of _the_ boyfriend. JB had taken her virginity, the week before prom and a week after going on their first date, they split up before graduation – Neither Sookie or JB saw any point in keeping things going. Culturally, they were polar opposites. They had nothing in common. Not a single song or movie or book.

Jerome cleared his throat and nodded to the tenants of the strip mall he owned. "Good evenin' folks. I'm sure you're all wonderin' why you're here and I'll just cut to the chase. The strip mall ya'll have your stores in ... I wanna use it for somethin' else."

Gasps echoed around the meeting hall and both Adele Stackhouse and Caroline Bellefleur stood up to basically say the same thing – they had contracts. Jerome put his hands out in front of him to calm the brewing storm.

"I know, I know. You won't lose your businesses ... they'll just be moving."

"Where?" Tara Thornton stood and spoke up. "I've got a big client base in this town – if I move I might lose them!"

"Not far, not far at all. In fact some of you might have noticed all the building going on just off I-20. Some have speculated that it's a mall, some say it's a multiplex ... but it's a retail park that I've invested in specifically so your businesses have somewhere to go when I open my new flagship gym where your stores now sit."

JB flipped his chart and everyone craned forward to have a look at the map of the retail park. Some of the businesses were already pencilled in for units – Tara and Collette had small units for their clothes store and beauty salon respectively. It turned out JB would be managing his very own small gym between Tara's Togs and Simply Beautiful. All of the stores currently in the strip mall were represented – except Stackhouse Computer Creations and Bellefleur Electrical Emporium.

"I know a couple of you will have questions – if you could just wait until I have the particulars finished with everyone and we'll discuss it after the presentation."

Jerome went on to tell them how the retail park was ready to open as soon as they told the shop fitters what they wanted and got their stock moved over. When everything had been explained and everyone was gone except the Bellefleurs and Stackhouses, Jerome called them to the front and circled two units with a blue pen and one unit with a red pen.

"Now, I know that the only units big enough to house your selling stock and over stocks are almost three times as big as the units you have now. The problem is they're double the rent." Both families gasped and started muttering amongst themselves. "Before you get all fired up, let me propose an alternative – you pool your resources. Become one big electronics superstore – like that Buy Everything place in Shreveport."

Caroline Bellefleur huffed and crossed her arms as her staff emulated the stance behind her – except Bill. Adele smiled at her and crossed her own arms.

"I have no problem with that; Stackhouse Computer Creations has gone from strength to strength. We could afford one of those big units on our own – but we'd need to take on a lot more people to be able to staff it adequately. That takes time that we don't seem to have. Can you say the same Caroline?"

Caroline narrowed her eyes and held back a hiss from her gritted teeth. "We'd be in a ... similar position."

There was no way a Bellefleur would admit, to a Stackhouse no less, that they couldn't afford the new unit.

"Then we've reached an accord." Adele smiled. "Haven't we?"

Caroline nodded and held out her hand regally. Adele rolled her eyes and grasped her hand firmly, shaking three times before letting go. "A superstore it is. What do you think of the name 'SB Electrical'?"

"Why is the S before the B?" Andy gruffly muttered.

Sookie rolled her eyes. "Do you really want to work for 'BS Electrical'?"

Jerome clapped his hands together and smiled that the most likely blockage to his plan wasn't going to be a problem at all.

"Well, I'll let you guys hash out the details with your lawyers and banks. I'll let the shop fitters know they'll be hearing from you. If you could have everything wrapped up by the end of the week it'd be swell!"

"A week?" Caroline squeaked.

"Not a problem." Adele looked pointedly at Caroline. "Make it so."

The Stackhouse Matriarch nudged Sookie as she and Bill started snorting, much to the confusion of the Bellefleur clan.

_Buy Everything – Shreveport_

Eric narrowed his eyes as he saw Pam taking another personal call on her cell on the shop floor. She'd already been warned about it - twice. He sighed and made his way over to the toasters and blenders, noticing that Pam was practically giddy as she slipped the phone back in her pocket.

"Pam, we've talked about this. You can't take personal calls on the shop floor – you're going to need to come to the office with me."

"Why, so you can fire me? Don't bother – I quit. My friend Sookie just happens to have advised me that there are a few openings in her family business and has given me first refusal on a job there."

"Oh ... well ... that's _good_. I guess. Are you leaving right now or will you finish your shift?"

"I'll finish my shift here – their store won't be opening for another week or two, so I'll need all the money I can get."

"Look, you can work here until you need to start your new job – to be honest I didn't want to fire you. It's been fun having a woman around the place who owns a brain. The other girls who work here ... they can read packaging – that's the extent of their product knowledge. But you've done your homework on every single product in the area you're accountable for."

Pam blinked. "To sell the products adequately it's important to know about them. More knowledge means more sales, which means more commission, which means more money in my pocket."

"If only everyone could see it that simply." Eric laughed and pulled Pam into a hug.

They broke apart when the store manager, Andre, cleared his throat behind them. "Eric, I need to see you in my office."

He walked away, expecting Eric to follow automatically. Pam raised an eyebrow and Eric shrugged, he was slightly baffled by Andre's harsh tone – usually his boss was in a good mood because his sales were always high. When Eric got to Andre's office, Andre was sitting behind his desk with an annoyed look on his face.

"Head office has just emailed me about you, Eric."

"Uh ... okay. What was it about?" Eric was usually confident and clear in his speech, but Andre's knitted eyebrows had him hesitate when asking the question.

"There's been a complaint; a big one. Do you remember Maudette Pickens or Dawn Greene?"

Eric smiled and nodded. "Yeah, I remember them. Dawn came in every week for a couple of months to buy stuff and Maudette spent $2,000 in one sale. That was a great month for commission."

The way Andre glared at him made Eric stop grinning immediately. "Their lawyer doesn't think so. It turns out that Johan Glassport trolls for new clients in a web forum called 'A Woman Scorned'."

Eric groaned and rubbed his face with both hands. "It's not my fault that those crazy chicks fell for the flirting and spent all their cash thinking I would screw them!"

"Glassport's company slogan is 'Where there's blame, there's a claim'. Our legal department is already in negotiations to settle – which brings me to your involvement." Andre closed his eyes and took a deep breath. "Eric, your ... methods to get the sales are effective and have brought the store success but ... I can't defend them or you and neither will Buy Everything as a company. I'm sorry, Eric, but you're fired. "

Eric was speechless; he left Andre's office in a state of shock, his pale skin and glazed expression making his curious colleagues whisper animatedly.

"Eric? What happened?" Pam gently touched Eric's forearm to get his attention.

"They fired me because I didn't screw the customers."

Pam patted Eric's shoulder and pushed him toward the locker room with one hand and digging out her phone with the other. "Hey, Sookie. You didn't have any more sales positions going? It turns out Eric's LFG too."

*LFG = Looking for group. A common term in online games when someone needs a team of people to complete a quest or objective.


	2. Four to the shop floor

**Electric Limbo**

**Chapter 2 – Four to the (Shop) Floor**

_Break Room – SB Electrical Superstore_

"What's our position, Number one?"

Sookie smiled as she finished unpacking the bags of drinks and snacks. "Everything is set, Gran. We're just waiting on the Bellefleur contingent and the n00bs to start the meeting."

Adele nodded and squeezed her Granddaughter's shoulder affectionately. "I'm glad you agreed to the Tech Manager position, Sookie. A big store like this would be impossible for me and Caroline to manage on our own. Add her ill health into the mix ... well; it's best we make a clear hierarchy for everyone's sake."

"Has she decided on Andy or Portia for Sales Manager?"

Adele grimaced. "Not yet. Andy wants it more, he has the drive and he cares more about the family business. But Portia is more intelligent ... that's pretty much all she has going for her."

"Andy is friendlier – he's more of a people person. That alone should convince Caroline to choose him."

"Never underestimate Portia's talents for debate. It doesn't matter how well her brother is suited for the job – she wants the authority and she'll argue any point to make sure she gets it. I sure wouldn't want to be Caroline right now."

Their discussion was cut short as Bill walked into the room smiling. "Good morning Ladies! It's looking good out there. Who came up with the name 'Geek Clique' for the Tech Support desk?"

"Me." Sookie smiled. "How are you, Bill? We haven't had much time to chat with all the moving and stuff."

"I'm fine, I'm great actually. I hope this isn't too forward, but I was hoping that I'd be considered for the Geek Clique at this meeting rather than the Sales Team."

"It's a given Bill – assuming Caroline signs off on it."

Bill sighed in relief and Adele shook her head before stating that she was going to go and check on Security Officer Worf.

"Gran – that's no way to talk about Quinn!" Sookie bit back a laugh but gave in when her Gran left the room and Bill's chuckles became infectious.

Bill looked at Sookie, her smile was as bright as ever but her eyes just weren't reflecting it anymore. He wondered why she had come back before finishing her degree, everyone wondered. He'd heard that she was kicked out of LSU – but a reason for the expulsion hadn't been forthcoming.

_I must not fear. Fear is the mind-killer. Fear is the little-death that brings total obliteration. I will face my fear. I will permit it to pass over me and through me._

"Sookie, why are you here?"

Sookie's smile dropped and her body tensed. "I'm here because my Gran offered me a job, Bill."

"You know that's not what I was asking, Sook." Bill leaned forward and placed a hand over hers. "Why are you in Bon Temps instead of finishing your degree?"

"I ... I was framed for drug dealing and drug use." Her voice was quiet as a mouse, just a hair above a whisper. Bill strained his ears trying to hear as she continued. "I went on a date with a guy, he was on a break from his girlfriend and she didn't like it. So, when they got back together, they hatched a plot to set me up. They didn't just want me out of school Bill, they wanted me arrested. They wanted to not only ruin my chance at finishing my degree but to ruin my chance of finding a decent job."

Bill was shocked speechless, but he knew his silence would stress Sookie out even more than having to tell him what happened.

"You didn't deserve that Sookie. I hope that this girl and her boyfriend get caught and punished for what they've done to you."

Sookie sniffed and tilted her head to the side in thought. "Well, she did have to have her nose reset."

"You beat her up?" Bill gasped.

"No! Silly! My friend, Pam, did. That's why she got expelled too, you'll meet her soon – she's coming to work at the store."

"Oh? Well, I hope I won't do anything that might make her want to reset my nose."

Sookie smiled and removed her hand from Bill's grip so she could pat his arm. "So do I, Bill. So do I."

_I-20 – Eric's Corvette_

Eric slapped Pam's hand away from the stereo for what felt like the thousandth time. He decided, right there and then, that if he got this job after the meeting today – he would ask for different shifts so he would never have to car pool with her again. Being near Pam made him uncomfortable, not because he had taken her virginity, but because she was so open with her ... geek-ness. He'd been trained to hide what his Father referred to as 'oddities'. First as a child by his parents, then as a teen in high school and then as an adult amongst other adults - who would very certainly frown upon collecting Thundercats figurines.

"Leave the radio alone, Pam. Seriously – Driver picks the music; shotgun shuts his cakehole." He winced as he said it.

_Dammit! Twenty minutes with a fully fledged geek and I'm quoting Dean Winchester._

Pam pouted and crossed her arms. "Yeah, yeah, I get it."

Eric sighed internally, relieved that she either ignored his slip up or didn't pick it up at all. Things went smoothly for around ten minutes before Pam slapped Eric's hand away from the stereo.

"What the fuck Pam? What did we just talk about?"

"But its _Rush_, Eric. Not just Rush, but _Tom Sawyer_. Its legend!"

Eric grit his teeth and held the steering wheel in a death-like grip. He knew the significance of the song. Any decent 'Chuck' fan would.

"Fine! So, who is this Sookie chick anyway, your campus girlfriend?"

"She was my roommate."

"So she was your campus, live-in lover?"

"No - _just_ my roommate, she's not into fuzz bumping."

"Is she pretty?"

Pam laughed. "Why? Do you want to practice a new sales technique on her?"

"I was just asking." Eric sighed. "But I _do_ need to find a new angle."

"Here's a novel idea – why not try ... _being yourself_." Pam grinned.

"I'm not sure what you mean." Eric gripped the wheel tightly.

Pam levelled a look at him. "Why do you need an angle? If you're honest and the customer trusts you, then the sales follow."

Eric sagged in relief, for a moment he thought Pam had seen past his 'cool guy' persona. "Oh _that_! Of course, yes, you're absolutely right!"

Pam raised her eyebrows, it seemed like her cousin was hiding something. All she knew about Eric was that he was a workaholic and very rarely socialised. Any time she had been to a family dinner in the last few years he'd never spoken of friends or hobbies. He talked about work, about Buy Everything and about how he was sure he'd make Store Manager before he was 30. The journey passed with no further conversation, even when Justin Bieber came through the stereo speakers – neither made a move or a sound.

The retail park was easy to find and the parking lot around SB Electrical Superstore was empty. Eric shook his head at the 'Opening Soon' messages that had been hand painted on white bed sheets and hung over the windows either side of the front door. He followed Pam as she confidently walked up to the door and tapped at it with her knuckles, waving to someone inside. The door was opened by a very large bald security guard, Eric reckoned the guard was at least as tall as he was and a little wider. Pam folded her arms as the guard tried to stop her from walking in.

"Back off man, I'm a scientist!"

Eric heard a snort coming from his left but ignored it in favour of making a good impression. "Hi I'm Eric Northman and this is Pam Ravenscroft. We're here to see Sookie."

When the guard moved his arms, Eric was able to see a photo ID clipped to his belt.

_John Quinn... why does that name sound familiar?_

"Follow me."

They walked behind the guard as he led them through the store. Eric thought it was small on floor space considering how large the building looked from the outside. A wiry man with red and gold hair tipped an imaginary hat to Pam and she smiled back at him as he sat on the edge of a counter with the guts of several walkie-talkies and a soldering iron. Eric's questions about the size of the building were answered as they walked through a set of double doors into a large stock holding area.

The racking was set up like aisles in a supermarket, there were aircraft steps, work assist vehicles and a small forklift truck parked to one side. Across from the racking were a number of doors with signs indicating what the room was for. Manager's Office, Server/Security Room, Cash Office and Locker room were all there, but the room that interested Eric and Pam the most was the one where chanting could be heard through the door.

Eric couldn't quite make out what was being chanted, but the fact it was coming from the break room unsettled him. Quinn opened the door as a cheer erupted from around the table. Andy was clapping and Bill was patting Sookie on the back as she screwed the side panel on, what looked to be, a very old PC.

"You did it, Sook, You fixed Gordon!"

Pam threw her arms up in the air and shouted. "Gordons Alive?"

"Pam!" Sookie dropped her screwdriver and ran over, wrapping her arms around her friend before pulling back and extending her hand toward Eric.

"It's nice to meet you Eric, I'm Sookie."

Eric looked at her hand and smirked at her before taking it in his own and kissing the back of it. "Well, aren't you sweet?"

Sookie narrowed her eyes at him. "Not especially."

Adele cleared her throat and nodded to Caroline who stood, a little shakily, and addressed the room.

"Terry, Pam, Eric and Arlene – we'd like you to follow us into the Manager's Office."

Pam accepted a high five from Sookie as she passed by with Adele, Caroline and Andy before the rest followed them into the other room. Eric stayed a good few feet behind the others, simply so he could admire Sookie's rear. He'd struggled to look into her eyes as she introduced herself, her 'zombie defence: Horticultural division' shirt had been a little on the tight side. On the back pocket of her jeans was a patch which had been stitched on haphazardly. As Eric admired they gentle sway of the embroidered Starbug - that's when it hit him.

_John Quinn was the guy I bought all those Red Dwarf DVDs from on eBay!_

He stopped walking for a second, making sure no-one had noticed his epiphany. Eric was glad he'd used his VikingGod email address rather than his named address – the last thing he wanted was for anyone to know he'd bought them. He had a reputation to uphold, after all - salesman, charmer, expert in flirtation. He was popular, _normal_, **not** a geek ... at all.

Sookie held the door open and looked into Eric's eyes as he walked past. She was amazed at how blue they were, like the eyes of the desert nomads of Arrakis. She sniffed him, unconsciously, to see if a wave of cinnamon assaulted her senses.

"Pam, I don't remember you telling me Eric is a Fremen."

Eric blinked and tried to ignore what she was saying. He walked over and took a seat next to the other man, Terry, in the hope that distancing himself from Pam and Sookie would quell the eccentricities that were rising inside him. He knew he was hiding who he was. Was hiding the same as lying?

_Only a lie that wasn't ashamed of itself could possibly succeed. Well said, Isaac, but I'm not ashamed of the lie – I'm ashamed of the truth._

"Eric, are you okay?" Sookie thought she saw a sheen of sweat on his brow but discounted it as new job nerves when he flashed a winning smile at her.

"I'm absolutely fine. Will the interviews be taken individually?"

Sookie looked to the others in the Management team and Andy spoke up. "They're not really interviews as such – we need experienced people ASAP, you experienced people are available. It's just a small group chat, very informal – that's how both families ran our respective businesses. I don't see any need to change that ethos now that we're one, larger, business."

Adele glanced at Sookie behind Andy's back with a surprised look on her face. Despite their judgements about him, he knew what he was doing when it came to speaking for the group. He quickly arranged drinks and had everyone seated and ready to begin. Adele and Caroline kept quiet for most of the discussion, leaving the majority of questioning and answering to their progeny. Neither were disappointed in their choices for second in command.

Pam was reserved during the chat, as Sookie suspected she would be. Although Pam had the look of a friendly milkmaid, she wasn't a people person at all. But she knew her way around a computer, despite her majoring in bio-science, and Sookie wanted the Geek Clique to have the talent to back up the service they were offering.

Eric leaned forward in his chair as the subject came round to remuneration. He was content with the package outline that was handed to him in an envelope but he wanted more than money – he wanted a future.

"I know this store hasn't even opened yet, but I'd like to know if you had any plans for expansion - another branch, perhaps, with room for promotion and ladder climbing."

The management team all looked at one another but Caroline took the ball and ran with it. "You're an ambitious young man; I understand that – all young men are ambitious. We don't have any plans for expansion – but that doesn't mean it won't ever happen. If that isn't good enough for you then I suggest you leave now and let us contact someone else."

Eric was shocked at her bluntness. He didn't want to commit to a company with a low chance of furthering himself, but he needed this job after being fired. "Well, you didn't say 'no', so that's good enough for me."

Caroline nodded and Pam relaxed. Pam had thought for a moment that Eric was going to embarrass her after she vouched for him. They finished up in the office and Adele put an announcement over the PA system for all staff to report to the break room. Sookie and Andy looked at each other. They knew they'd be in the store after everyone else had gone, going over the list of employees and picking their teams.

_Like Dodge ball._ Sookie thought.

Moments after having that thought, Sookie found out how much like Dodge ball it would be when Andy suggested some team activities so everyone could get better acquainted. She found out that it was actually Dodge ball.

"Don't you think that's a little juvenile, Andy?"

Andy grinned at Sookie. "It's only juvenile if you're a geek who can't play Dodge ball."

Pam narrowed her eyes and sneered. "O what men dare do. Dodge ball is an awful game to unite people."

"But, I've got all the balls and everything." Andy replied down heartedly.

Sookie rubbed at her temples with her fingertips and exhaled loudly. "Okay – we'll play Dodge ball, but just one game ... and only because there are too many people to plug in and play an MMO. Bill?"

"Yes, Sookie?" Bill bit his lip nervously, unsure of what Sookie wanted.

"Set up the Wii. I know a way to unite everyone, have some healthy competition and have a lot of fun at the same time."

"Surely you don't mean ..."

"Yes, Bill, I do ... and don't call me Shirley."

_Bon Temps Retail Park – Delivery Yard, SB Electrical Superstore_

The game had been tough and Andy had picked his team exactly as Sookie suspected he would. He picked the biggest and the strongest, where Sookie picked the smallest and quickest. Sookie, Bill, Pam, Sam and Hadley had put up a good fight but eventually lost to Andy, Eric, Terry, Arlene and Jason. Portia had insisted they needed a referee despite Adele and Caroline's declaration that they could handle such a task.

"Well." Andy smirked. "That was refreshing! Shall we go back inside so I can whip your team's ass again?"

"Go ahead and make your jokes Mister Jokey Joke Maker!" Sookie stuck her tongue out before continuing. "My choice of game is a four-player. From my existing team I pick Pam, Hadley and Sam."

Andy rubbed at his chin. He knew Bill played a lot of games where he ran around in the forest with an axe because he was useless at shooting games. He, stupidly, concluded that Sookie had left Bill out of her team for that specific reason.

"I'll pick Eric, Jason and Terry. What's the game?"

"Just Dance." Sookie grinned.

Bill tried to disguise his amusement at the look on his Uncle Andy's face. Andy hated computer games with their silly joysticks and buttons upon buttons to press.

"Maybe we'll get lucky!" He turned and grinned at his team.

Bill placed a hand on his Uncle's shoulder and did his best impersonation of Alec Guiness. "In my experience, there's no such thing as luck."

Everyone made their way back into the building to the break room. A 32" flat screen TV had already been installed to make the room more comfortable for the staff and Bill had connected the Wii while Andy had been gathering his balls earlier. Sookie took the four controllers and plugged them in before turning the console on.

"Three rounds, one song per round. First and second rounds are last man standing between the four players on each team. Third round will be the highest scorer from each team. Clear enough?"

Everyone nodded. Sookie handed controllers to her team mates and, in the spirit of fairness, Andy was allowed to choose the song they would dance to. In the spirit of trying to make the opposite team look like asses, Andy picked Cotton Eye Joe by Rednex. At that moment, Sookie vowed she would get even with him if it was the last thing she ever did.

_By Grabthar's hammer, by the sons of Worvan, I shall have my vengeance._

And, later, when she saw Andy trying to follow the dancer onscreen to the dulcet tones of Kylie Minogue – the score was settled. Adele clapped along with the others but soon held her hand up for calm.

"The final round ... Sookie versus Eric. Why don't we make this a little more interesting? The loser spends tomorrow's grand opening at the front door to greet the customers."

There were some gasps and mumbling around the room. Store greeter was first point of contact and, therefore, first in the line of fire from whiny, irate and generally crazy customers who would blame you personally for something as innocuous as the traffic on the highway. Sookie and Eric stood toe to toe, jaws set and shoulders tense until finally Sookie held out her hand.

"It's on."

Eric looked at her hand for a second before grasping it firmly. "Like Donkey Kong."

They stood, controllers secured, with their backs to the screen as Adele and Caroline debated over the song that they would dance to. Sookie narrowed her eyes at the older women as they giggled. Eric felt the sweat bead on his brow.

"You may begin."

Caroline announced as the opening riff of 'Eye of the Tiger' filled the room.


	3. Encounter at Greeting Point

**Electric Limbo**

**Chapter 3 – Encounter at Greeting Point**

"That's it, dance. Shake your lily white ass, buckaroo!"

Eric glared at Sookie as she easily copied the highlighted figure on the screen and taunted him at the same time. He knew she was using underhanded tactics. She didn't put that much jiggle into her team dancing. Sookie put an extra spin in her steps and added a little shoulder shake to distract Eric even further.

"Adele, Grandmamma, as referees I hope your taking note of Sookie's attempts to distract my team member fully from his task."

Adele rolled her eyes at Andy and turned back to watching the two youngsters. While she had admiration of her Granddaughter using a man's weakness against him, Sookie's dancing _was_ blatantly sexual. Her smile turned to a frown as she watched Eric's eyes follow the roll of Sookie's hips. While the others were laughing and congratulating Sookie on her landslide win, Adele walked to the door and smiled before asking to see Sookie in her office.

Sookie was still grinning as she closed the office door behind her but it was soon wiped off her face when she turned around to look at her Gran.

"Pretty proud of yourself, aren't you?"

"I ... well ... did I do something wrong?"

Adele sighed and sat down behind her desk. "Do you remember what I told you before you went to University?"

"Work hard and be proud of your achievements. Yeah, I remember."

"I also told you that if you acted like a loose woman, you'd be treated like one. During that game you made out like you were a lap dancer, Sookie. Are you a lap dancer?"

"No!"

"No, you're not. You're a manager. If you want these people to pay you the respect they should as the person who manages them, then you can't act like their friend, Sookie. You don't have control over your friends, but you have control over your employees."

Sookie nodded and picked at her nails. She knew her Gran was right. She also knew that she could have won that game without shaking her ass and drawing attention to her boobs. As if her Gran were some kind of telepath, she voiced her next concern.

"I've seen you dance, sweetie, you didn't need all that extra jiggling and distraction to win that game. As a reprimand, for being such a damn fool show off – you'll be doing the greeting along with Eric tomorrow morning."

"What? No! Please, Gran, anything but that!"

Adele put her hand up for silence and Sookie complied. "A good manager does the dirty jobs to show their staff how it's done properly. You agreed to be my Number One here, Sookie, did you think it would be all laughter and horsing around?"

"You're right, Gran. I'm sorry. From now on I'll be the kind of manager you want me to be."

"No, Sookie, you'll be the kind of manager I _know_ you can be."

_Vic's Redneck Roadhouse – Later that evening_

Andy was giddy as a child on Christmas morning when he pulled his shirt out of the bag. He stroked it lovingly, tracing the letters on the back with his fingers. The polo shirt was the same colours as the Bon Temps football team, white trunk, black short sleeves and red script. On the front it had 'SB Electrical Superstore' embroidered on the left breast and on the back it had 'Andy Bellefleur – Sales Manager'.

"Sweet! We got one for you too, Sookie. Just the one, mind. Special for opening day."

Sookie smiled as she took her own, smaller, version from the plastic wrapping and slipped it on over the top of her standard work uniform.

"These are great, Andy! I love the colours." She slipped it back off and looked at the writing on the Back. "Sookie Stackhouse – Technical Support Manager."

"Tech support?"

The voice from behind them startled her a little, but she would know it anywhere. She clenched the shirt in her fists and slowly turned around to face the bane of her first year at University.

"Felipe De Castro. I never expected to see you again." She took in his white shirt and his green and blue striped tie. Her eyes flicked to the badge on his chest. "But here you are leader of the nerd squad at Buy Everything. Didn't you have some big job lined up with Apple?"

Felipe's eyes narrowed before he set his features in an expression of boredom. "Well, yeah, but it wasn't that great. I figured I needed to climb down the ladder and work with the little people, give myself a challenge y'know?"

"Suuuuure." Sookie rolled her eyes and turned back to Andy. "Felipe was the TA in one of my first classes; Professor Davis expected great things from him."

"And he expected great things from you, too. So how is it you're here and not finishing your degree? Couldn't cut it with the big boys, sweetheart?"

Andy felt for Sookie as he saw the cloud of sadness pass over her. But just as abruptly as it appeared, it was replaced with determination. Sookie's mouth set in a firm line and fire shone in her eyes.

"Actually, I felt that I'd learned everything I needed to there. I decided to get back into the family business – my Gran needs someone to pass the reins to when she retires from owning her own electrical superstore. I mean, you have to admit – owning your own business is far more appealing than being some flunky in a big corporation."

Andy saw that she wanted to put this guy in his place, and he didn't like the look of him anyhow, with his silly moustache and smug smile. He kept his mouth shut about Sookie only being co-owner once the older ladies took their leave.

"Yeeeep." Andy stretched casually before locking his hands behind his head to make his biceps bulge. "When we open tomorrow, you guys at Buy Everything will get a run for your money that's for sure."

Felipe snorted. "You think you small town plebeians will be able to compete with the might of Buy Everything? I'd _love_ to see you try. "

With that final comment, he swaggered away. But not before signalling to the barman and jerking a thumb in the direction of Sookie and Andy's table. Not five minutes later, the barman came over and cleared his throat.

"Howdy folks, I'm Vic – the owner of this fine establishment."

Sookie blinked at the cigarette scarred table, which also had ketchup stains, and then looked around at the rest of the bar. It was a dump. Everyone knew it was a dump, but it was the nearest place to the retail park that sold food.

"Uh ... okay. Is there something we can help you with?"

"You sure can, little lady. You and your goon here can pay up and never come back. I don't like seeing my regular customers, like Mr. De Castro, gettin' upset."

"Pfft. He wasn't upset – he was bein' an ass!" Andy tossed his one-ply paper napkin on the table.

Sookie narrowed her eyes and placed a hand on Andy's. "We haven't caused any trouble, sir. But if you want us – and by extension all thirteen members of staff from our company to never set foot in this ... bar, then that isn't a problem."

Vic's eyes widened. Felipe was a good customer, and acquaintance, sometimes he brought a couple of other guys in with him ... but thirteen customers was a lot to lose. Andy spotted the cogs turning in Vic's head and smiled at Sookie.

"Yeah, I mean, I heard there was gonna be one o' those burger franchise Bar & Grilles opening in the park. I'm sure they'd be more welcoming."

Sookie nodded. "I'm sure they would."

"Uh ... look guys. Felipe is kind of a friend of mine; his Daddy fronted me the money to buy this place. He comes in on Thursdays, if you could just make sure you don't come in that night then I don't see any problems."

"You're a smart man not to turn away business, Vic." Sookie took some bills out of her pocket and dropped them on the table. "We'll be back – but not on a Thursday."

Andy clapped Vic on the back before following Sookie out of the door. Once they got to their cars, he stopped and tapped his hands on the roof of his Corolla.

"Is this Felipe guy gonna cause us problems?"

Sookie sighed. "He's Khan to my Kirk, Andy. He was a pompous ass in College and he's still a pompous ass – but now he's a pompous ass that thinks our business is a threat to his."

"But we are."

She was taken aback by the statement. Could SB Electrical really be a threat to Buy Everything? She thought about the team they had. Any company would struggle to get a tech support team of the calibre she had gathered, and the sales staff could probably sell snow to the Black Watch.

"Well, we'd better get ready for him to pull some nasty tricks then."

_SB Electrical Superstore – Break Room_

Adele paced in front of the packed tables and chairs. She was nervous. And she hated being nervous.

"We are now T minus two hours until those doors get pulled wide and the customers flock in. I know you've all been anxious over what areas of the store you'll be working in."

Sookie and Andy stood up and started passing out the special polo shirts. In random order, with no indication of which people were on which team. The only one's not dressed in jeans and being handed company uniform were Adele and Caroline. They wore smart skirt suits, black, with white blouses underneath and red chiffon scarves around their necks.

"On the back of each shirt you will find the team you are on _for today_. We're still seeing where some of your strengths lie."

Eric ripped open the plastic bag for his shirt and closed his eyes in frustration. When he opened them the text on the back of the shirt was still the same - 'Technical Support and Sales'.

_Why is fate kicking me in the nuts over and over? It seems the more I want to get away from geeks the further I'm pushed toward them._

"Are you coming, Eric?"

He blinked to find Arlene smiling at him and curling her flame-red hair round her finger. She winked at him and he cleared his throat before standing and gesturing for her to leave the room before him.

"Oh, you wanna check out the goods, huh?"

She wiggled and Eric laughed uncomfortably. "I don't like to date within the workplace."

Arlene chuckled and looked over her shoulder. "Oh, I'm sure we can rectify that, honey."

_Crom, give me strength._

Eric rubbed his face with his hands and went into the men's locker room to change into his shirt. Andy, Jason, Bill, Sam and Terry were already in there. They were chattering excitedly, the pitch of their voices giving away their nerves. Jason straightened the collar of his shirt in the mirror.

"This is it boys, the big day." He turned to the others and clapped his hands once before raising his arms to the sky. "Are we ready to sell?"

"That's what I like to see, a little enthusiasm." Andy clapped him on the back and smiled. "Now boys, those doors are gonna open soon and we need to be ready for anything."

"Anything?" Terry gulped.

"_Anything_. Female customers – use your charms." Andy looked straight at Eric and pointed to him. "But not too much, we don't want any lawsuits. Male customers – use your man card and make that stove sound as macho as you can. We clear?"

"Crystal." Eric replied sarcastically. "Does _everyone_ here know why I was fired from Buy Everything?"

"Yeah, man, Pam told Sookie and Sookie told me and Gran." Jason shrugged and smiled. "Personally, I was more shocked about the amount of pussy you must have let pass by than the fact those girls tried to sue you for flirtin' with 'em."

"Yeah, well, lesson learned." Eric grumbled.

In the women's locker room a very different conversation was happening. At the very moment Eric was being warned against leading women on, Sookie was trying to break up a catfight between her cousin, Hadley, and Arlene Fowler.

"I saw him first, bitch, I call dibs!"

"Cram it Hadley! He ain't even paid you a lick of attention."

"Would you guys stop it?" Sookie eventually managed to get between the two women and separate them. "I get that Eric is a very handsome guy, but I think this is a decision _he_ has to make. If this stupid squabble carries on to the floor, you guys are going straight in for a visit to Portia. She's been studying Human Resources and working hard on a staff handbook. I don't want to have to hold disciplinary meetings before we're even open!"

Pam took Arlene by the arm and pulled her into the small shower room while Sookie tried to calm Hadley down. Once they were tidied and had quietened down, Sookie didn't have time for a sales pep talk. The four women emerged into the sales floor to glares from Adele and Caroline and bemused looks from the guys as they noted that all four women had flushed cheeks.

"Now that we're all here, let's get these walkie-talkies handed out. Terry and Hadley – you'll be running small item stock from the back to the service points. Any big ticket items are booked for delivery. If it's too heavy for you to lift – it's too heavy for the customer to lift."

Terry saluted and took a handset from Adele. Hadley rolled her eyes and brushed against Eric on her way to get her handset, earning a low growl from Arlene. Sookie nudged the redhead and glared at her before grabbing Hadley and pulling her to one side.

"Hadley – not cool. This is opening day, a big day for Gran. Grow the fuck up and think about someone else for a change. Get into the stock area; I don't want to see you out here again unless you've got a sold product in your arms."

Hadley pulled her arm out of Sookie's grasp and narrowed her eyes at her. Sookie had always been the favoured Granddaughter, the golden child, the one Gran doted on. The one who got believed when she blabbed on Uncle Bartlett, he'd always told Hadley no-one would believe her if she said anything. Hadley hated that Sookie was exerting her authority over her. But more than that, Hadley hated that Sookie was trying to get in the way of her getting a boyfriend.

"Look, Sookie, you may be hot stuff when it comes to computerology or whatever, but when it comes to dating, I'm the Slayer. By hook or by crook, Eric will be mine."

Sookie sighed as Hadley stomped off to the stock area and rubbed at her temples as she rejoined the rest of the group. Adele was confused about the altercation between her Granddaughters but didn't let it interrupt the flow of her speech.

"Jason, Sam and Andy – you're our big guns. You sell, sell, sell and get those consumer driven asses to Arlene at the sales point." She handed Arlene another handset. "You're my money taker, Arlene; I hope you can count better than you can dye your hair."

Before Arlene could be offended, Andy steered her toward the sales point.

"Bill, Pam – you're on tech support and sales. Sookie and Eric are your back-up if that section gets too busy." Bill and Pam nodded and went over to the Geek Clique desk. "Sookie and Eric – your handsets are on the same frequency as Quinn's. Greeters and door folks are the first line of defence against shoplifters."

"And crazy people." Sookie sullenly added.

"Yes and crazy people." Adele checked her watch and nodded. "It's time."

Sookie and Eric just made it to their places before the store's PA system crackled and Adele's voice echoed through the building.

"Open doors - engage."

The click as Quinn turned the key to operate the automatic doors was as loud as the heartbeats of the waiting employees. A crowd had already gathered on the sidewalk outside, a few of them not waiting until the doors were fully open before trying to squeeze through. Eric gulped as a large irate woman made eye contact with him.

"Shields up! Rrrrrrred Alert!"

Sookie snorted but stopped when she saw Maybelle Harrison making a beeline for Eric. "This is not gonna' be pretty. We're talkin' violence, strong language, adult content."

"You, boy, I bought this laptop here last week and it don't work!"

"Okay, ma'am, I can see you're upset but there's no way you could have bought this here."

"You callin' me a liar, boy?"

"No, ma'am, I'm simply suggesting that you may have gotten a little confused. We weren't open last week and for the record, this isn't a laptop – it's a waffle iron."

_SB Electrical Superstore – Break Room – 8:15pm_

Sookie, Hadley and Pam were sharing a bag of cherries at one of the tables as all of the store's staff had gathered at the end of a busy day. They were waiting on the final number as Andy, Adele and Caroline emptied the cash register and counted the receipts.

"Should be a good count, I've never served as many customers as I did today." Jason was pleased as punch that most of the stock requests from the sales point had had his name on them.

"It's the retail park. In the strip mall, folks only went there for something specific. Here you get the folks out for the day and wanting to browse. Browsers make good buyers." Sookie bit another cherry in half and picked out the pit with her fingernails.

"Did you get a lot of action, Eric?" Arlene winked and tried to sit on his knee.

He sprang from his chair and walked over to the refrigerator for a bottle of water. "I managed to talk a few people into the more expensive option."

Bill coughed and mumbled under his breath about that not being what Arlene was talking about. Hadley glared at Arlene but soon turned her hundred watt smile toward Eric.

"Hey, Eric, did you know I can tie a knot in a cherry stem using only my tongue?"

"Uh ... really? How very ... Audrey Horne."

"Watch!"

"No really, you don't have to. I believe you."

But it was too late. The stem was in her mouth and Hadley was contorting her face into a multitude of expressions. Moments later, Hadley uttered a 'guk' noise and her hands went to her throat. She fell into Sam's lap, clawing at her neck.

"Oh my god! Sam, quick - do the Heimlich manoeuvre or something!" Sookie shouted.

"Dammit, Sookie, I'm an Electrician not a Doctor!"

Bill jumped out of his chair and grabbed Hadley, pulling her out of the chair and wrapping his arms around her midriff. The others watched as Bill tried to stop Hadley from choking and as Hadley, stupidly, tried to fight him off. She pointed to Eric as she jerked spastically in Bill's arms until finally the cherry stem flew out of her mouth and hit Portia on her left cheek.

"I should have gone to law school." Portia took a handkerchief from her pocket and dabbed at her face as Hadley threw herself at Eric.

"You saved me!"

"Uh ... no, I didn't. Bill saved you." Eric unwrapped Hadley's arms from his waist and sat between Sookie and Pam.

"But I know you would've if he hadn't gotten there first."

"Sure, I was just on my way to save you but I took an arrow to the knee."

While most of the room laughed uncomfortably, Sookie, Bill and Pam eyed Eric with suspicion. Particularly Bill.

_This development does not increase my chances of rekindling our high school romance._


	4. All War is Deception

**Electric Limbo**

**Chapter 4 – All War is Deception**

_The Stackhouse Homestead – Bon Temps_

Pam held her fingers out in front of her, admiring her handiwork, and smiled. It had taken the smallest brush she could find and every colour of nail polish Sookie owned, but finally the nails on her left hand vaguely resembled Moss, Roy, Jen, Douglas and Richmond.

"Oh my Lord! Pam, look at the mess in here!"

Sookie looked at the small bottles littering her bedroom floor and the acetone scented cotton balls over her bed. Pam blinked and smiled crookedly.

"I was conducting an ... art experiment?"

"Geez, Pam, I was downstairs going over opening day with Gran for an hour. I hate to think what you would have gotten up to if I'd been any longer."

Pam bit her lip and picked up the waste paper basket. "I would never blow up your bathroom. You know that."

Sookie blinked and shook her head, wondering if it was a good idea to buy a lockable cabinet for any sharp or flammable things around the room.

"Did we have a good Grand Opening?"

"Yes, we did. Very good." Sookie dug into the pocket of her jeans and pulled out some folded sheets of paper. "I thought you'd like to see these."

Pam unfolded the notes and grinned as she read them out loud. "'Excellent customer service', 'staff went that extra mile', 'I will definitely be back and I will be telling my friends' and, the piece de resistance – 'So much better than Buy Everything'."

"It's cool, huh?"

"Cool, Sookie? It's awesome!"

Sookie finished putting her nail polish back in the drawer and sat, Indian style, in the middle of the bed. "So, I got to spend a lot of time with Eric today."

"Yeah, both of you on the door – tough break. But you did a really good job of calming that guy down when he tried to blame you for his car running out of gas."

"Thanks. Eric isn't a bit like I thought he would be. I was expecting some self-absorbed meat head who didn't know a fan from a flash drive ... like Jason."

Pam nodded and sat next to her. "I knew he was a good salesman and very driven by his job but, to be honest, I haven't spent that much time with him in the last 6 years. Everything I knew about him before we started working together was gathered from snippets of conversation at family dinners."

"So you have no idea how he managed to become an expert on graphics cards or how long it took him to master a pitch perfect impersonation of Commander Riker?"

"None, but I can see that it interests you." Pam nudged Sookie and wiggled her eyebrows.

"If you bring up my ... soft spot for Jonathon Frakes – I will kill you."

"Are you kidding? You've got more ammo against me than I've got against you ... but do you want me to ask him to talk like Riker all the time?"

"No! And if I find out you've mentioned this to him – in any capacity – that video of you trying to feel up Chris Hemsworth and telling him to fill you with his thunder stick at Comicon will be made very public!"

_Buy Everything – Shreveport_

"Hey Felipe, you know that new superstore that opened up?" Lafayette furrowed his brows. "Word on the street is they've got some genius on tech support, I've had three cancellations for rebuilds this morning."

Felipe's eyes narrowed and he growled out. "Staaaaaackhooouuusse."

_SB Electrical – Manager's Office_

Adele smiled as Caroline and Andy gushed about how exciting and profitable their team venture was. She smiled because, she was about to put an end to their excitement. She wasn't the type of woman who revelled in other's misery or liked to cause people pain. But one thing she didn't like was being taken for a ride.

"So, I noticed that your funds for the shop-fitting and other, supposedly, joint costs haven't arrived in the SB business account yet. I hope that they'll be deposited before the end of the month."

Caroline blanched. Until that point she had been under the impression that Adele wasn't keeping a close eye on the business account.

"Oh, the money isn't available right at this minute – we weren't given a lot of time to ... uh ... sell our shares, tie up our investments and liquidate our assets."

"Really? Because you haven't put a dime towards this collaboration yet. To me, it looks like Bellefleurs Electrical Emporium didn't have two cents to rub together."

"That's preposterous!" Andy snorted and crossed his arms defensively.

Adele smiled again and nodded. "You have until the end of October – that's three weeks – to hold up your end of the arrangement and deposit the agreed amount into the business account. If it's not there on November the first, I'll be taking a trip to see Sid Matt Lancaster."

Normally, when Adele wanted to make a point, she would leave the room after such a statement. This enabled the people who were the cause of the statement to mull over her words. But today she wasn't in a mood to let Caroline mull over her threat in private. Instead, she picked up the sign on her desk that said 'Adele Stackhouse – Co-Owner' and polished it with her handkerchief.

Andy didn't like the way Adele was rubbing the sign, because she was only rubbing the 'Co' part of it. It made it look like the sign said 'Adele Stackhouse – Owner'. His brain scrambled for ways to get the money they promised for the collaboration but he didn't think Portia would earn a lot of money on the streets. The Bellefleur coffers weren't empty, but there certainly wasn't enough to fully pay what they had promised they would.

Caroline was thinking along more legal lines and wondering if there would be fees if she remortgaged the antebellum mansion they lived in. She realised it would have to be done by a bank outside of Bon Temps. There was no way she would risk anyone in town, especially Adele, finding out that the Bellefleurs had to go to such lengths to stay in business.

_SB Electrical – Break Room_

Eric carefully placed his lunchbox in the fridge, making sure that his name faced outwards, before heading to the coffee machine and pouring himself a drink before the store opened. Sookie arrived with Bill seconds behind her and said her hellos to Pam, who was sitting reading 2000AD, and Eric before nodding to Bill and going to put her own lunch in the fridge.

"Eric, are you concerned someone will steal your lunch if you don't put your name on it?" She smiled and chuckled.

"Well, if someone steals it then I have nothing to eat. I can't just pick any old sandwich to fill up. I have a wheat allergy."

"Really?" Sookie asked wide-eyed. "That must be awful!"

Bill cleared his throat and smirked. "A lot of people mistake intolerances for allergies. It's possible you just have wheat intolerance."

"He breaks out in a bright red, lumpy rash, has a headache so bad he can't open his eyes and throws up if the room is too bright. It's an allergy, Bill. I remember the first time it happened, my Aunt Thalia was convinced Eric was going to die. It took weeks for the hives to go away and the migraine stuck around for a few days too."

Sookie gasped at Pam's description and turned to Eric. "We'll need to make sure everyone is aware of it so you don't end up eating something with wheat in it by accident!"

"That would be good, Sookie, thanks. The last time I had an incident was in a restaurant, they used wheat starch to thicken the sauce on my steak. It took me three days to feel human enough to leave the house."

Sookie's hand flew to her mouth. She'd never been unfortunate enough to suffer from food allergies, but she had no idea that it could affect someone so badly. She was still worried about Eric accidently swallowing something wheat based after he and Pam had left the break room to get changed.

"Don't you see what he's doing, Sookie?" Bill pulled his chair closer and put his hand on her shoulder.

"What do you mean, Bill?"

Bill sighed and looked away from Sookie. He didn't want her to see the twinkle in his eye when he put his plan in motion.

"Eric. He's softening you towards him so he can swoop in and use you up, he's an expert in getting women to do whatever he wants – look at all those women who bought products from him at Buy Everything."

"Don't be silly!" Sookie scoffed and went to get up from her seat, but Bill tightened his grip a little to make her stick around.

"I'm not being silly, Sook. If you want to fall for his manipulations then more fool you. When he chews you up and spits you out, don't come crying to me."

"Okay Bill." Sookie sat back down and glowered at Bill as best she could. "A. I'm not some stupid chick that drops my panties because a guy is hot."

"You think Eric is hot?"

"Besides. The. Point. B. If I _was_ interested in Eric, it would take more than a food allergy anecdote for me to jump into bed with him. C. If he was trying to manipulate me, Pam would see right through it – and there's no way she would let him try anything like that."

"I just don't want you to get hurt, sweetheart. And Eric ... I saw the way you looked at him the other day. You're interested. But he's bad news, Sookie, with his hair and his smile, guys like him are only looking for one thing – I don't think you want to be locker room talk, do you, sweetheart?"

Bill stood up and patted Sookie's shoulder before walking away with a smirk on his face.

_Never give up! Never surrender!_

_Vic's Redneck Roadhouse_

Felipe slid the laptop across the table toward his partner in crime. Vic watched everything. Not because he was nosy, per se, but because he was suspicious at Felipe's presence in his bar on a Tuesday afternoon. In addition to being in Vic's bar on a Tuesday afternoon, Felipe was accompanied by a very serious looking blonde woman. Vic had overheard Felipe calling her Sandy and, at first, had considered Sandy to be a girlfriend or maybe even Felipe's wife. But he had worked behind a bar long enough to know when there's chemistry going on. And there was no sexual, emotional or vaguely friendly chemistry between Sandy and Felipe.

_Yep, this is a business deal if ever I saw one. I'm not sure I want to know what kinda business though. What's better for me, plausible deniability or guilt?_

Vic thought about the animosity between Felipe and the girl who brought all those people in for a drink the night before. That girl made him a lot of money. He sidled closer to Sandy and Felipe under the guise of wiping down a table.

"I've fucked this laptop up good. There's no way even the great Sookie Stackhouse would be able to fix it. What you need to do is make as much noise as possible when they tell you it can't be mended. You think you can do that?"

"Felipe, how long have you known me?"

"A long time."

"And have I ever let you down?"

"Never. That's why I trust you with this. I need to make Sookie Stackhouse look incompetent, but while you're there I need you to listen and watch out for other chinks in their armour."

Sandy nodded and put the laptop bag next to her chair. Vic moved out of earshot, back behind the bar, and fished out the business card that Sam had given him. Another bonus of keeping on Sookie's good side was that the electrician they had working for him had offered to come out and fix any problems Vic might have with his equipment.

_SB Electrical – Geek Clique Help Desk_

Sam leaned on the desk and beckoned Pam over to him. Pam raised an eyebrow at his furtive glances around the store while he waited on her. She hadn't had much interaction with the electrician, which she appreciated. Sam preferred to stand back and observe, much like Pam, and he had observed that Pam was very protective of Sookie. He had also observed that Pam didn't like it when Jason made quips about hooking up with her and that being near Arlene made her wrinkle her nose. But right now he was observing that Pam was narrowing her eyes at him in distrust.

"Hi Sam, do you need something?"

"Do you know where Sookie is? I got a very interesting phone call."

Pam nodded. "Sure, she's in the locker room. Hadley tripped up Andy so he would spill his water over her for an impromptu wet t-shirt contest but he missed and hit Sookie with it instead."

"Was Eric nearby at the time?"

"Yes."

Sam shook his head. Hadley was a card that was sure. He remembered when she used to pull stunts to get his attention.

"Okay, thanks Pam. I'll talk to you later."

Pam nodded brusquely and went back to her work while Sam rushed through to the back of the store to the ladies locker rooms.

*knock knock knock*

"Sookie."

*knock knock knock*

"Sookie."

*knock knock knock*

"Sookie."

Sookie threw the door open and stepped out. "What Sam?"

"I had a very interesting phone call!"

"A Phone call? What is it?"

"It's a method of communication where voices are relayed through a series of cables and exchanges, but that's not important right now. That guy, Vic, from the roadhouse near here called me."

"And what did he have to say?"

Sam excitedly repeated the information Vic had given him - everything about Felipe meeting with Sandy and wanting Sookie to be made out as incompetent. He also told Sookie about Vic's request that Sam service his deep fryer in return for the tip off.

"I guess that's a small price to pay to know that someone is out to make me look like an idiot. You can do the service on the clock – I'll cover for you."

Sam nodded. "Thanks Sookie!"

"No, Sam, thank _you_."

She walked out on to the shop floor and scanned the customers for a serious-looking blonde woman with a laptop.

_Every wolf suffers fleas. 'Tis easy enough to scratch! What's your game, Felipe? Why go to such lengths? Why target me at work? Why try to make out that I can't do my job?_

"Let's see what you've got Felipe. Let's see what you think will bring me down." Sookie smirked. "Get ready for a surpriiiise."


	5. Discovery and Loss

**Electric Limbo**

**Chapter 5 – Discovery and Loss**

_SB Electrical – Entrance_

Sandy Sechrest held her head high as she walked purposefully to the front door. Clearing her throat, she stopped in front of the security guard and spoke loudly so that all the other customers nearby would hear her.

"My laptop is having some problems; can you tell me who might be able to help me?"

Quinn raised an eyebrow at the blonde woman in front of him and bent down a little to reply to her. "Lady, I ain't deaf, so there's no need to shout. You can take your laptop to the Geek Clique desk; one of them will be able to help you."

Sandy narrowed her eyes at him and turned to walk away but stopped when he spoke again.

"And it doesn't do any harm to say 'please' and 'thank you' either."

She bristled but grit her teeth and carried on without retort. Felipe had told her that he wanted Sookie made out to be incompetent but Sandy couldn't help but wonder why. She wondered if Sookie was out to take his job as head of the Nerd Squad, but when she saw the polo shirt that said 'Sookie Stackhouse – Technical Support Manager' she put that idea to the side.

_Is Felipe maybe gunning for this girl's job? It's a busy store, I can see the appeal. But it's entirely possible he's hurting about the fact she's younger and becoming more successful than him. Either way is money in my pocket._

Sandy smiled widely as she approached the desk, ignoring the nudges and nods that the others at the Geek Clique centre were giving her. Before Sandy could open her mouth, Sookie spun around and faced her.

"Well, hey there. What can I do for ya?" Sookie looked at the case Sandy was holding. "Oh! Is your laptop sick?"

"Uh ..." Sandy blinked at Sookie's over-dramatic pout and placed the laptop on the desk. "Yes, I don't know what's wrong with it."

"Sounds serious. Let Doctor Sookie have a look."

Sookie took out a pair of elbow length, bright yellow rubber gloves from under the desk and pulled them on, making a snapping noise with each glove as she tugged then as far up her arms as they would go. She then produced a plasma ball and a set of swimming goggles. Sookie nodded to Pam, who put on a pair of oven mitts. Pam nodded to Bill, who took out a deck of playing cards and fanned them across the desk. Sandy watched as all of the staff at the desk prepared in some way or another. Sookie bit her lip to stop giggling at Sandy's perplexed expression. Clearly, the visitor was not as prepared for the procedure as the SB Electrical staff.

"Are we ready to start?"

"Yes, Doctor Sookie. Weave your magic." Pam and Bill said in unison, their voices monotone and robotic.

Sandy took a step back from the desk as Sookie removed the laptop from the bag. She placed it on the desk and bent down, running her nose along the hinge at the back. Sookie nodded and repeated the process on all sides of the laptop. She stood straight and wafted the scent of the laptop towards her before frowning and cocking her head to the side.

"We're going to have to perform a nicky-noodle-ectomy." Pam gasped and Bill thumped his fist against the surface of the desk. "Assume the positions."

Pam covered her ears with her mitt clad hands and chanted 'nicky-noodle' over and over again in a low voice while Bill chanted the same words as he waved his hands over the deck of cards. Sookie took a deep breath and placed one hand on the plasma ball and the other on the laptop. By this point, the spectacle had drawn quite the crowd. Many of them sniggering, some of them looking for hidden cameras but most of the customers were more interested in Sandy's reactions.

"What the hell are you doing? How is this going to fix my laptop? Are you all incompetent? Are you all crazy? I _knew_ I should have gone to Felipe at Buy Everything!"

Sookie smiled at Sandy and pushed the laptop towards her. "We're just kidding around. But if you really want to take your laptop to Buy Everything then that's up to you – maybe Felipe will be able to fix it, seeing as he's the one who broke it."

"How did you ... I mean, I don't know what you're talking about." Sandy spoke loudly and clearly for the benefit of the surrounding customers.

"Look, sweetie, I know Felipe was trying to prank me but, right now, you're the only one getting punked." Sookie narrowed her eyes. "You take this back to him and you tell him that if he wants a war, he's got one."

_Buy Everything – Shreveport_

"And when he turned around and asked me if USB drive was a new type of transmission for his car – I swear, I thought I was going to die laughing!" Felipe turned away from holding court with his minions to answer his phone. "Hi, Sandy, how goes the mission?"

"_It's a wash, Felipe. She put on some big show with rubber gloves and oven mitts. She didn't even look at the laptop, when I complained about what they were doing she told me to take it to Buy Everything."_

"Rubber gloves? I don't think I want to know, but one thing I _do_ know is that it sounds like you failed miserably."

"_I didn't fail – I did exactly what you asked me to do. She knew I wasn't an honest customer and she knew you're the one who sent me."_

"But how could she? The only place someone might have overheard something would have been at Vic's."

"_Well, maybe you need to check the place for bugs ... or spies. Why is it so important to make this girl out to be useless?"_

"You don't really need to know that."

"_She's no idiot. I don't know what game you're playing, Felipe, but it's too rich for my blood. I don't know what kind of revenge she's cooking up, but you'd better watch your ass."_

Felipe was speechless. He hung up on Sandy and went to speak to his minions.

_The Ravenscroft Residence – Shreveport_

Eric ran his fingers through his hair as he waited for Pam. He thought, for a second, that Andre would be telling him to get it cut soon. But then he smiled, because Andre could never tell him that again. He could grow his hair with no fear of reprisal. It was a small victory but important. The yelling that signalled Pam's imminent exit from the house she lived in with her parents was Eric's cue to start the engine. Pam liked to getaway as quickly as possible after waking and spend as little time with her parents as she could these days. He was moving the car down the drive before her seatbelt was fastened.

"What were they scolding you for this time?" The good natured smile fell from Eric's lips as he watched Pam angrily wipe at her eyes with the back of her hand.

"My Mom had the bright idea that if I wasn't going be a _career woman_ that I should concentrate on finding a rich man to marry."

"Ah ... and let me guess – she's set you up on some hokey date with one of Uncle Joseph's high-fliers?"

Pam nodded and angrily blew her nose. "I get that they want me to do something with my life – but there's a huge canyon between being a criminologist and being arm candy at the firm's Christmas party."

"Why don't you tell them you're already seeing someone? Tell them you're dating Jason or something – it'll get them off your back."

"Jason? Did you have a Pan-Galactic Gargle Blaster before you came to pick me up? He's completely un-dateable."

"It was just a suggestion. You know if you explained the situation he would go along with it – and Sookie would quite happily gush to your parents about you being almost a sister anyway. But I guess it wouldn't matter what you came up with – Sookie would back you up 100%. She's that kind of person isn't she?"

Eric withered under Pam's harsh gaze and tried to think of something different to talk about. No matter how hard he tried _not_ to think about quizzing Pam on Sookie, he always came back to it. He found her very interesting; he liked her sense of humour and how she seemed to care about so many people – even if they had hurt her before. Jason had been very forthcoming on information about Sookie's childhood years but didn't know much beyond Sookie – the girl. Eric was more interested in Sookie – the woman.

"So, what was it like, living with Sookie for three years?"

Pam smiled. "It was a lot of fun, we like a lot of the same movies and TV shows. We read the same books. It was like living with a larger breasted, more computer orientated version of myself."

"I bet you guys liked to party in college. Sookie seems like the type of girl that has one beer then you can't get her to stop dancing."

"That's pretty accurate." Pam chuckled. "But we didn't party much. Most of the guys were complete assholes, which is why I ended up batting for the team who wears comfortable shoes and Sookie only went out with, like, three guys."

"What were they like, the guys she dated?"

Pam narrowed her eyes. "Oh no! I'm not doing this. If you want to know all about Sookie's love life, you'll need to date for the requisite 3 months before the 'ex' conversation."

"What? Date? Who said anything about dating?"

"Eric, let's look at the facts shall we?" Pam turned in her seat so she was facing him. "You obviously like Sookie. You ask too many questions about her for you _not_ to be interested. She's hot, fun and smart – you'd be a fool _not_ to like her. But she's your boss, so you can't mess her around - if you want to act on your attraction to her, you have to date her. Woo her."

"Woo her? Seriously?"

"Yes, seriously. And you can begin by stopping the 'cool salesman' act – I know there's more to you and so does Sookie. So geek up, Eric, show Sookie your true colours. Her super-power is being able to smell bullshit; honesty is a big turn-on for her."

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"Really? Did you know that your shirt has ridden up and I can clearly see the waistband of your Incredible Hulk boxers?"

"It's wash day. They were a ... a gift."

"Sookie mentioned how well you can mimic Will Riker. What's your excuse for that?"

"I ... I caught all the reruns when I broke my ankle."

Pam shook her head sadly and leaned toward Eric, her voice low and deliberate. "You can't begin to imagine the life you denied yourself."

_Shreveport_

Sookie skedaddled out of the residential area near Buy Everything with her 'Kill Batman' grin in full effect. Felipe had no idea who he was dealing with.

_The Compton Estate – Bon Temps_

"_Take my love, take my land  
>Take me where I cannot stand<br>I don't care, I'm still free  
>you can't take the sky from me"<em>

It wasn't often Bill sang, let alone singing first thing in the morning before he'd had his coffee. But today he was convinced that _this_ would be the day that he turned Sookie against Eric and began his quest to win her back. The information he'd found on the internet the previous night had made him smile with glee. A blog entry that just begged to be printed out and put on the staff bulletin board Chuckling, Bill poured his coffee and looked at the paper in his hand for his favourite line - for the fourth time since waking.

"_Eric will say anything to seal the deal, no man has ever made me so many empty promises." Oh, Sookie. When you read this you'll be disgusted by him and who will be there to chastise this awful treatment of a woman?_

Bill was so absorbed in his plan that he was halfway through his Lucky Charms before he realised his Dad wasn't in the kitchen eating breakfast too. This was very odd as the Comptons always ate breakfast together. Bill wondered if maybe his Dad was having a lie in or maybe had to leave the house early for some reason. He finished his breakfast and started looking around the bottom level of the house for a note. When a note couldn't be found, he went upstairs to check his Dad's room.

"Dad?" He knocked lightly on the bedroom door. "Dad, are you in there?"

Frowning, he opened the door slowly and peeked into the room. Sure enough, his Dad was still in bed. But something was wrong. Instead of being nestled under the covers, Jesse Compton was lying fully clothed, diagonally across the mattress on top of the comforter.

"Dad?" Bill spoke louder and walked toward Jesse's form on the bed. "Daddy?"

When Bill touched Jesse's hand it was stone cold and looked grey in the dull light of the room. Jesse's eyes were closed and his face looked saggy - like there was more skin there than there had been the day before. When Bill grabbed at his dad's shoulders to try and shake him, the scent of urine assaulted him, the weight and stiffness of Jesse's body made it almost impossible for Bill to move him in his heightened emotional state.

"No, no, no, Daddy! You can't do this Daddy. You can't leave me!"

But Jesse Compton was gone. He had been for hours.


	6. We're Gonna Need a Bigger Boat

**Electric Limbo**

**Chapter 6 – We're Gonna Need a Bigger Boat**

_SB Electrical – Bon Temps_

Adele hosted a briefing every morning before the store opened. She always had. It kept the staff on top of how the store was faring and informed them of anything they might need to be aware of for the coming day. Andy didn't see the point in it for those reasons, he saw as a chance to take note of who was there and who wasn't. It was roll call for Andy. And, this morning, Sookie made it in by the skin of her teeth but Bill was missing. Andy thought it was strange that his nephew hadn't called to say he wouldn't be in because he was sick or some such and concluded that Bill was simply running late.

_Probably car trouble. Despite his old man being a mechanic – that boy's car breaks down more than a celebrity divorcee on a chat show._

"Now, Halloween will be here before we know it." Adele winked at Andy and Caroline. "And in grand Stackhouse tradition, it is mandatory that all staff wear a costume of some kind."

Hadley, Jason, Sam and Sookie grinned and high fived each other. Andy, Caroline, Portia, Terry and Arlene groaned. Pam and Eric smiled as the gulf between the ways the two families worked was made even more obvious.

"It don't need to be fancy." Jason piped up. "Last year I wore a plaid shirt and jeans with a sticker tellin' folks I was a werewolf."

"Shouldn't you have been dressed as a wolf?" Terry frowned.

"Nah! There weren't no full moon was there?"

Terry nodded in comprehension and Arlene followed suit. The staff chattered excitedly as they made their way to their posts. Despite trading for weeks, the queues were still forming outside before the store's doors swung open. Everyone was working flat out to try and serve everyone, but there were still plenty of customers asking for help and trying to attract the attention of a salesperson. Sookie was taking a customer to the payment desk and grabbed Andy when she walked past him.

"Andy, we're slammed – where's Bill?"

"I have no idea; he ain't called in or nothin' and his cell and landline are just ringin' out."

Sookie stopped in her tracks. "Well, doesn't that _worry_ you a little?"

"Of course it worries me, but right now there ain't much I can do. Maybe when it quietens down I'll try callin' him again."

Sookie sighed in exasperation. "I'll go over and check on him on my lunch break."

The morning passed quickly and with still no sign of Bill or any contact from him at 2pm, Sookie got in her car and drove over to the Compton Mansion. She was annoyed at how blasé Bill's uncle was over his absence. But that was the Bellefleurs for you – money always came first with them. Everyone knew that.

_Bill could be hurt or anything! He could be lying in a ditch at the side of the road and Andy didn't seem to give two hoots._

When Sookie pulled up, the first thing she noticed was that both Bill and Jesse's cars were still in the drive. That worried her more than if no-one had been home. The last time she remembered Bill taking any time off school and staying at home was when his Mom died. As she approached the front porch she thought about all the people Bon Temps had lost through freak accidents and illnesses like cancer.

_If there's such a thing as a hellmouth, then surely Bon Temps is sitting on one. _

Sookie knocked softly on the door and called out for Bill. When there was no answer, she knocked louder and shouted. When there was still no answer, she shakily found the spare key and cautiously unlocked the front door.

"Bill? Bill, are you home?"

Bill's muffled voice came from upstairs and Sookie quickly made her way in the direction it came from. When she reached the top of the stairs she noticed that the Compton house didn't smell right. Usually it smelled like cigar smoke and fried chicken, but today the air was sharp with a scent Sookie wasn't familiar with.

"Bill, are you up here?"

"I'm in Daddy's room."

Sookie went to Jesse's door and pushed it open; the acrid air hit her full force and made her gag. On the bed, Bill was lying next to a very still Jesse. Daylight was streaming through the gap in the curtains, making it obvious Jesse was not the colour a normal healthy human should be.

"Umm ... Bill, I think you should get up off the bed and come and have some tea. Would you like that?"

_Buy Everything - Shreveport_

The Nerd Squad were overrun and staff from all over the store had to chip in and deal with the queue. Laffy, Heidi, Chow and Bruno, plus the two newbies Barry and Niall, threw disgusted looks at Felipe as another customer dumped their PC tower on the desk and waved the "50% off upgrades – just ask for Felipe!" flyer at them.

Andre scowled in his office. He had been hoping Felipe would have been a less controversial Assistant Manager than Eric, although he knew that the flyers were a prank of some sort, it would have been worse publicity to refuse them than entertain them ... and Andre was sure that whatever 'joker' had put a flyer in every mailbox in a one mile radius knew that too.

_The Compton Mansion – Bon Temps_

Sookie carried the warm drinks from the kitchen to the living room. The cups made a tinkling sound against the saucers on the tray. She set the tray on the coffee table and handed Bill his tea. He calmly sipped at it, staring straight ahead but not really looking at anything. She could tell by his eyes that he hadn't been crying.

_It must be the shock. Bill isn't the most emotional guy but this should be affecting him more._

"Um ... I called Bud and your Uncle Andy at the store. Bud is on his way, Andy seemed ... not sure what to do."

Bill nodded and Sookie bit her lip, trying to keep her own emotions in check. She'd known Jesse all her life but now he was gone. Sookie, Jason, Hadley and Bill had all been affected by the deaths of parents ... but that was when they were children or barely out of their teens. It seemed more shocking now that she had interacted with Jesse as an adult.

"Is there anything you need me to do, Bill?"

He was shaken out of a daze by Sookie's voice and replied as if on autopilot. "No thank you, Sookie. I'm fine."

Sookie pulled Bill against her and patted his shoulder; he relaxed into her hold a little but stiffened when knocking sounded at the door. Sookie sprang from the sofa, glad to have a reason to move around. She found it hard to stay still at the best of times. Bill stared after Sookie as she went to answer the front door and nodded to Bud as he walked past the archway with Mike Spencer, the coroner, in the direction of his Dad's body.

_Body. That's all it is now, just a body._

Bud questioned Sookie and Bill separately, waiting until Mike was removing Jesse's corpse before talking to Bill as a means to distract him from what was happening.

"There'll need to be an autopsy to determine the exact cause of death. With no sign of foul play it could be any number of things, stroke, heart attack ... I'm heart sorry for ya Bill. Jesse Compton was a good man – he worked hard and did right by you."

Bill simply nodded; the whole questioning session had already been cast to the back of his mind as the reality of the situation set in.

"Has someone contacted Tray down at your Dad's garage? I'm sorry to say but ... you're gonna have to call round folks and let them know what's happened."

"Of course, yes, yes. I'll ... get right on that, Bud."

Bill slowly walked away to retrieve his cell phone. Sookie's eyes followed Bill but soon her full attention was on Bud.

"Thanks for coming so quickly, Bud. I'll try to help him out with the phoning round and stuff."

Bud nodded and tipped his hat to Sookie. "That boy is gonna need someone to watch him for a while, probably until after the funeral, sometimes the shock don't wear off til then."

Bill came back into the living room to find Sookie standing by the fire and rubbing her arms. He had just dialled the number for his Dad's garage when Andy and Caroline Bellefleur burst into the house and ruined the contemplative silence.

_Buy Everything – Shreveport_

Felipe felt very small and completely freaked out as Sophie-Anne LeClerq stared him down through the video feed. He'd grinned from ear to ear when Andre asked him to take part in the conference call with head office but his happiness was short lived. She was still, except for her right hand which was softly stroking the log sitting in her lap.

"This back and forth pranking is obviously personal – why did you think it was appropriate to bring it to Buy Everything's doorstep?"

"I ... I didn't know she would distribute flyers! She's the one who cost Buy Everything money!"

"But _you're_ the one who sent someone to _her workplace_ with an unfixable laptop – you started it. It's up to you to finish it!"Her demeanour changed as she looked at her log and shushed quietly before humming the theme to The Love Boat.

Felipe blanched and nodded meekly.

_SB Electrical – Bon Temps_

The next morning briefing started as normal, despite almost everyone wondering why Sookie had left early on a very busy day and then Andy and Caroline both disappeared only a couple of hours later. Adele pursed her lips as the staff whispered and muttered through her sales targets update.

"I know you folks have questions – but, please, let me get through this part first."

The way Adele blew out a breath and closed her eyes before continuing made the group quieten down. Sam had already noted Sookie's pallid features. He had also observed that Andy and Caroline seemed to be trying to contain their happiness about something.

_What would make Sookie sad but the Bellefleurs cheerful? Bill is still missing, so whatever is making Sookie sad has something to do with that. The only thing I know that makes Andy happy is money._

"Now that all of the silly sales talk is over, I'm afraid I have some bad news. Yesterday, Bill's Dad – Jesse Compton, passed away. Bill won't be back at work for a while. He needs to wait until the autopsy has confirmed cause of death before a date can be set for the funeral. I don't think I need to say this, but I will – he greatly needs the support of his colleagues right now. The store will close for a few hours to let those who wish to go to the funeral do so."

"That's awful!" Hadley put her hand over her mouth and, just because Eric was looking at her, choked back a sob and sniffled. "How is Bill?"

Sookie stood up and started to tell everyone that he was in shock but didn't seem to be a danger to himself but was interrupted by Andy.

"How is he? He's rolling in dough – who knew ol' Jesse was a secret millionaire? Me and Grandmamma were there when the lawyer came to go through everything."

"Money can't replace his Father, Andy." Sookie scolded with a nodding Adele and Jason at her back. "And I think it's very poor form to discuss his financial circumstances in front of everyone like that."

Andy's face reddened under everyone's gaze as he realised that everyone except his Grandmother and sister agreed with Sookie. Portia excused herself to the HR office to go over applications for new staff, which caught Eric's attention straight away. He sent a text to Heidi and Chow to let them know SB were hiring as he made his way to the Geek Clique desk.

Hadley and Terry sat in the break room. Until their radios screeched that someone needed something then they could kick back and relax.

"So, still no luck with Eric then?"

"Pfft, the guy is, like, unaffected by my charms. I've tried smiling, telling jokes, laughing at his jokes and being all breathy and seductive. I don't know what else to do."

"I'm not having much luck with Arlene either. I have a plan but we'd need a quart of peanut oil, some bubble wrap and as much yarn as you can find."

Hadley smiled strangely and excused herself. She wondered, briefly, what kind of plan Terry had come up with.

_Yarn, oil and bubble wrap. Geez, that guy is a ..._

Just then she spotted the plastic banding from some boxes overflowing from the garbage.


	7. With Ferengis like these

**Electric Limbo**

**Chapter 7 – With Ferengis like these...**

_SB Electrical – Stock holding area._

Hadley checked and double checked she had her props positioned right before waiting for that moment, the moment when everything could be put into action. It came sooner than she expected, but Eric was a good salesman. The radio call came through from Arlene; Hadley responded and asked for Eric to come back to the stock room to make sure she had the right product.

Then she waited.

Her senses were in overdrive as she heard the door open and ... two sets of footsteps? That wasn't right; Eric was supposed to come back there alone. Hadley panicked, and stepped out from her hiding place.

"Eric! I wanted to double check ..."

Eric stopped her by holding up his hand. "Hadley, I know – you just wanted to double check if I was stupid enough to come back here alone so you could throw yourself at me again. Wrong. I brought Pam with me to ..."

Just then, Pam squealed in fright before crying out in pain. Eric ran over to where she was lying on the floor, the banding that Hadley had fished out of the garbage tangled around her ankles.

"Oh fuck it hurts, Eric!"

Eric didn't need to ask where it hurt, the way Pam was cradling her arm made it obvious. "What the hell is this mess doing all over the floor?"

Terry, watching from between the racking, pressed the button on his radio. "We're gonna need a first aider back here."

_SB Electrical – Security Office_

Adele watched the footage one more time, just to make sure, but still couldn't believe what she was seeing. Hadley sat in the chair next to her, biting her nails, knowing she had been caught. The video played again, Hadley taking the banding out of the garbage and placing it on the floor, Hadley moving her feet through the banding and changing the position so it would catch her ankle, Hadley pretending to fall over and over again.

"You set the whole thing up, Hadley, and now Pam has a broken wrist. Why, Hadley?"

She shrank under her Grandmother's scrutiny. "I was going to pretend to fall so Eric would help me up."

Adele sighed and rubbed at her temples. "You _created_ a major health and safety risk so you could try to get laid?"

Hadley nodded, looking suitably chastened.

"I'm so sorry, honey, I can't let this go. I've overlooked so many of your hare-brained schemes to be the centre of everyone's universe – but someone got hurt. Someone got hurt because of _you_. You're a danger to the store, Hadley, I'm sorry but you have to leave."

"Okay." Hadley nodded and stood up. "I'll see you tomorrow."

"No, Hadley, you won't. When I say 'you need to leave' I mean this job. I can't have you working here making trouble. I don't want to fire you, because that would tarnish your employment record, but you need to resign."

"I see." Hadley held her head high. "Fine, I resign – effective immediately. Not just from this job, but as your Granddaughter. I'm sick of you always putting Sookie first, I'll be better off without all of you!"

Adele rolled her eyes and watched as Hadley stormed out of the office. Sure as eggs were eggs, Hadley would call up when she needed money. Sookie tapped lightly on the door and poked her head round the opening.

"Hey Gran. How did it go?"

"As well as can be expected, she's run off and resigned from the family again."

"I'll call Amelia and tell her to expect a visit from Hadley then."

_The Compton Mansion – Bon Temps_

Bill smiled a genuinely happy smile as Sookie walked into his living room. She had been very supportive during his time of grief. Of course, Jason, Adele and the Bellefleurs had been supportive too. But Sookie's support meant more to him.

"Hi Sook, how was the store today?"

"Urgh! It was crazy busy and then Hadley screwed up and Pam had to go to the hospital ..."

"The Hospital? What is it?"

"It's a big building full of sick people, but that's not important right now. Hadley set up some elaborate tripping over scene to try and snag some touchy-feely time with Eric but Pam fell into it and broke her wrist."

Bill shook his head ruefully. "That's worse than the time she paid Catfish to feel her up so Sam would come to her rescue."

The two friends chatted about simple things; Jesse wasn't mentioned by either of them. Sookie was in the kitchen making tea when she spotted a sheet of paper sticking out from a drawer. She wasn't a nosy person, but she didn't like things sticking out of drawers. A frown graced her features as she opened the drawer to straighten the paper and it deepened when she saw what was printed on it.

_Why would Bill have some blog post on the women who emptied their wallets because Eric flirted with them?_

Sookie wasn't interested in what, or who, Eric had done before he came to work with them. The same as she wasn't interested in those details with anyone else in the store. She was already surprised that her initial impression of Eric had been wrong; whatever he was like when he worked at Buy Everything certainly wasn't what he was like at SB.

She put the paper in the drawer, print down, and directly in the centre before closing the drawer and vowing to forget she'd ever seen it there. She couldn't have things like Eric Northman and his sketchy past preying on her mind, she had to help Bill with his Dad's funeral and support him.

_Restful Home Cemetery – Bon Temps_

Sookie looked at the crowd that had gathered to pay their respects to Jesse Compton. She was glad that almost the entire town had shown up. Tray Dawson had closed the garage for the day; he had seemed almost as lost as Bill when Sookie spoke to him. Jesse had been his mentor and employer for the last ten years. Adele had closed SB Electrical for three hours to allow the staff to support their colleague.

Not all of the staff from SB were there, both Eric and Pam had told Sookie that they had never met the man and weren't very close to Bill, so they would feel uncomfortable at the funeral. Quinn stayed at the store to prevent any looting. Sookie found his excuse ridiculous but didn't question it.

As the Pastor asked everyone to be seated, Sookie saw someone she hoped she would never see again. Fortunately, Adele had also noticed him.

"Ignore him Sookie."

"Who invited Baron Harkkonen anyway?" Sookie hissed in return.

"Bartlett was Jesse's best friend through school. He might be wicked and poisonous, but Bartlett is human and entitled to pay his respects."

Sookie nodded but narrowed her eyes at her Uncle Bartlett. She wasn't letting him out of her sight, she wanted to make sure she could see him if he approached her. The one saving grace, in Sookie's opinion, was that Hadley had already left town. Sookie had been to counselling for the things Bartlett did to her but Hadley hadn't been so lucky and had suffered for longer than Sookie while Bartlett was a part of the family. She let her mind wander, albeit unwillingly, to the day she told her Gran what was going on.

_Bartlett can't hurt me now but Gran will always be my Ripley._

Adele looked down as Sookie grasped her hand, squeezing back but quickly setting her gaze back on her brother. When the service was over and people started to flock back to the Compton house, Sookie made her excuses and went back to work. Adele understood why as she saw Jason slapping Bartlett on the back and shaking his hand.

As much as it pained her that Jason would never know what his Uncle did to her girls, she knew he missed having a man around the family.

_Apartment 2b – Chloe Street, New Orleans_

Amelia was waiting at the door when Hadley trudged up the stairs with more bags than usual. She didn't particularly _like_ Hadley, but she liked Hadley's money. In Amelia's opinion, Hadley could be a snotty bitch all she wanted, as long as the dough rolled into her bank account every month.

"The place is pretty much how you left it; I cleaned up a little though and washed the dirty towels you left."

Hadley nodded and waited for Amelia to step out of the way so she could get inside. It had been a long drive in such an emotional state.

"Well, you're the landlady and custodian so I should expect you have. If you'll excuse me, I'd like to get settled."

Amelia refrained from rolling her eyes and sneering, instead opting for a cheery smile.

_SB Electrical – Geek Clique Helpdesk_

Sookie sighed as her customer walked away happily. It had been a hell of a day with the funeral and Bartlett and she was looking forward to going home and relaxing in the bath. Eric watched as she kneaded the muscles in her shoulders and stepped closer, replacing his hands with hers.

"You're doing it all wrong, where are you most tense?"

Sookie turned her head to look at him and frowned slightly. "At the join between my neck and shoulders."

Eric nodded and started gently pressing his fingers into the base of her skull. Sookie sagged against him and groaned, feeling the tension wash away after only a minute or so.

"Hell of a day, isn't it?"

She opened her eyes and snorted before stiffening under Eric's hands. "And it's just about to get worse."

Eric looked up and huffed in annoyance. Felipe was storming toward the desk, a determined look on his face and a bored Lafayette behind him. Eric greeted them both cordially, as did Sookie, but that was where the niceties ended.

"Cut the crap, Stackhouse. For too long I've let you act like you're superior to me." Felipe hissed while leaning into the desk in an effort to intimidate her. "This ends _now._"

Sookie sighed and shook her head. "Is this about the php code you messed up and I fixed? Because that was three years ago. You need to let that shit go."

"Tonight, 8pm, Goldshire. You and me, we'll see who's better then."

"Goldshire?" Sookie snorted. "What are you? Level 2?"

Felipe narrowed his eyes. "Fine. Windrunner's Overlook, same time ... alone."

"No way." Eric stepped forward. "You'll turn up with a posse. I'm coming too."

Felipe laughed deeply and Lafayette was moments behind. Eric glared at Lafayette.

"Is there a problem gentlemen?"

"Eric, man, you expectin' me ta believe you play WoW? Mr 'Too cool for school' salesman?" Lafayette shook his head. "I jus' came here ta see Fifi make a damn fool o' himself but now I'll be there too."

Felipe snapped his fingers and walked away. Lafayette followed after offering a hand out to Eric and requesting that there be 'no hard feelings' between them. When they were gone, Sookie turned to Eric and folded her arms.

"If you wanna back me up tonight, we need to pick complementary toons. My main is human rogue with Cadaverous Garb."

"Dwarf Paladin with Doomplate Battlegear."

Sookie nodded, you could never have too many tanks in grudge-match.

_The Stackhouse Homestead – Bon Temps_

[VikingLief joined SteelMagnolia's group]

Eric was using one of Sookie's many spare PCs that had been set up on a folding table next to Sookie's bed. He huffed as his knees knocked against the tabletop as he hunched on the mattress.

"I can't believe you don't have a mic for team speak."

"And I can't believe you do." Sookie snarked back. "Stand at my back so you can see them coming. I don't know how many he'll have with him; we'll need to be ready for anything."

Sookie kept her eyes glued to the screen. Wishing, not for the first time that night, that Bill was there with his fire Mage.

[JuanSheet says: Well lookee who showed up to get their asses kicked]

"Shit, he's got an 85 Troll Warrior and an 83 Blood Elf Warlock. We're screwed, Sookie."

"We're not in the ground yet." Sookie grinned as her character flew toward Felipe's with a fifteen second blade flurry in effect.

Eric blew out a breath and threw his Dwarf into the melee. The battle was fierce but with three against two, SteelMagnolia and VikingLief were soon on the ropes. Eric was gearing up to unleash another combo when the Troll was hit for 300 damage by a Pyroblast.

"Who the fuck is that?" Eric shouted at the screen while Sookie laughed evilly.

[Magester says: Looks like I happened upon something interesting.]

"It's Bill! I sent him a text earlier to let him know this was going on but I really didn't think he'd feel like joining in."

[Magester has joined SteelMagnolia's group]

"Alright! Now it's three on three, that's more like it!"

Their excitement was short lived as Magester was ganked by an Undead Rogue and a Taurean Druid. But Bill's addition had eliminated the Troll Warrior, leaving SteelMagnolia battling Felipe's Orc Warrior and VikingLief making mincemeat of the Warlock.

Eric cursed loudly and pushed the table away as his character's health bar emptied, leaving Sookie to deal with Felipe on her own. He stood and hunkered down next to her, there was a sheen of sweat on her brow and her face was red with concentration as she battered the buttons on her keyboard.

Finally, with a combination of 'Cheat Death' and 'Slice and Dice', SteelMagnolia was the last man standing.

Sookie stood up so fast her chair scooted across the floor. Her hands raised high in the air she let out a yell of joy before fist-pumping and jumping up and down.

"In your face Felipe! I win. _I_ win."

Eric stood up to congratulate Sookie but was taken aback when she threw her arms around him, laughing. He was even more taken aback when she clapped a hand either side of his face, screamed that she'd won for a third time, then kissed him deeply.

Sookie pulled back as she felt Eric's hands work their way towards her chest. She blinked and stepped away, holding her arms out in front of her. Eric thought about grinning and making a lewd comment but stopped himself.

_That was the old Eric, the Eric that only wanted to keep his reputation going. I'm new Eric now, Eric who kisses women because he likes them and doesn't make sleazy comments._

He slowly backed away, giving Sookie the space he felt she needed.

"I'm sorry!" Sookie blurted out. "Uh ... the rush of beating his ass ... I got carried away."

Eric nodded slowly, wondering how to let her know that he was more than okay with her actions while not scaring her away.

"I understand and I really don't mind. I guess it's a case of 'right place, right time'?"

Sookie frowned and shook her head. "I don't think so, Eric. If it had been Bill or Sam ... I don't think I would have done that."

"Does that mean you're attracted to me?"

Before Sookie could answer, the awkwardness was interrupted by pounding on the door. "Excuse me."

Sookie rushed out of the room and towards the kitchen. She knew it was Bill at the door, there was no-one else that had timing quite like him. She beamed as she let him in the house and accepted his bear-hug gratefully. Bill was chuckling and congratulating her when he stiffened and his arms felt like a vice around her.

"Bill! Quit it, you're crushing me!"

"Sorry, sweetheart." Bill dropped Sookie like a hot potato and stepped away with a cold look in his eyes. "Eric. I wasn't expecting Sookie to have company."

Eric's features were a mask as he quickly calculated that his presence was very unwelcome to Bill. "Sook doesn't have team speak and we've never fought together before."

"Eric is 'VikingLief'; he was helping me out with Felipe."

"I see." Bill went over to the fridge and took out a bottle of Snapple. "I'm not interrupting anything, am I?"

"Uh ... no, we were just ... talking." Sookie replied slowly while nodding to Eric.

"Yeah." Eric pulled out a chair next to Sookie. "Talking about ... the fight ... and how awesome Sookie was."

Bill smiled and nodded, knowing full well something other than talking had gone on. No-one was _that_ cagey when they'd been talking. "She _is_ awesome. In every way – not everyone appreciates that about Sookie."

Sookie closed her eyes; she couldn't stand to watch their body-language. Listening to them posture in her kitchen was quite enough for her.

_Don't do this, Bill. Don't make out that you were the best thing that ever happened to me when you taught me what it meant to have a broken heart._

"Sookie has been very awesome in helping me acclimatise to working at SB. I feel like part of the family!"

Sookie's eyes snapped open. "Eric! That's so sweet of you to say!"

She smiled at him and got up to get him another drink, thankful that Eric hadn't made a jibe about how much he'd been appreciating her just ten minutes beforehand.

"Do you guys think Felipe will leave us alone now?"

Eric and Bill looked at each other with very serious expressions. They both started talking at the same time before Bill stopped and gestured for Eric to go ahead.

"I worked with Felipe for years, if anything this will probably make him angrier. But don't worry – we've got your back."

Bill nodded. "I'll die before I let him hurt you, sweetheart. Can you say the same, Eric?"

Sookie smiled tightly, not wanting to point out that it was very unlikely to come to a scenario where death would be on the cards for anyone. She noticed Eric frowning slightly as he wondered how to respond to Bill's challenge.

"If Felipe messes with Sookie, he messes with all of us. He'll have no idea what hit him."

Bill sneered, Sookie sighed - relieved that Eric didn't take the bait. Eric sat back in his chair and crossed his arms, willing Bill to leave so he could speak to Sookie alone.

Unfortunately, the finale of the new Thundercats series that was programmed to start on his home theatre prompted Eric to leave before he had that chance.


	8. I'm not done baking

**Electric Limbo**

**Chapter 8 – I'm not done baking...**

_SB Electrical – Break Room_

Bill was glad to be back at work. It had been a week since his dad's funeral but sitting at home, alone, wasn't doing anyone any good. At work he could lose himself for a little while before going back to the empty house. He was enjoying an egg salad sandwich when his Uncle and Grandmother entered the break room and requested his presence in the manager's office.

Sighing, Bill put down his sandwich and followed them. He paused at the last second and picked up his cup of coffee to take into the meeting with him. He sat in the uncomfortable chair and listened as they took turns telling him about how important he was to the company, how he would always be a Bellefleur in terms of his core purpose at the store and how much they both respected him and admired him for coming back to work and functioning despite his trauma.

Bill saw right through it all. "How much and why?"

"What?" Andy and Caroline gasped at the same time.

"Before Daddy died and I became a millionaire, you two treated me like something you scraped off your shoe. How much do you want and why do you want it?"

Caroline gaped at her Great-Grandson and felt her heart palpitate in her chest. Not through shock at his words but through fear that she had been found out and confronted. Andy puffed out his chest, he had a healthy respect for men who saw through bullshit and cut to the chase.

"If we don't have $200,000 in the joint account by Halloween, we'll lose the store. SB Electrical will just be Stackhouse Electrical and we'll have nothing. The family business will be gone."

Bill nodded and excused himself, coming back a few minutes later with his checkbook.

"Two hundred thousand." He tore the check out of the book and held it out to his Great-Grandmother, but pulled it back out of her grasp before she could snatch it."But I get Andy's position. When you leave this mortal coil, Mee-Maw, I want to be the one to run my investment."

"Done!" Caroline leaned forward a little more and grabbed the check before Andy could protest.

Bill exited the Manager's office, smiling internally that he'd had the presence of mind to make a deal, and was almost knocked over by Eric rushing toward the break room.

"What's the rush, Eric? Scared someone will spike your corn tortilla with wonderbread?"

Eric stopped to scowl at Bill before turning back and carrying on. He heard the door to the shop floor squeak as it swung open and closed and sighed in relief that Bill wasn't going to follow him. He entered the break room and glared at Sookie as she poured herself a coffee.

"You're avoiding me."

Sookie closed her eyes and sagged. "I'm not avoiding you, Eric; just ten minutes ago we were chatting at the desk."

"With Pam and Sam. You're avoiding being alone with me." He clenched his fists and willed her to look at him. "You regret kissing me."

She bristled that he'd made it a statement, as if he was so sure that he was right. "If I didn't before, then I do now!"

"What's _that_ supposed to mean?"

"It means you're being an ass." Sookie slammed her cup on the table and yelped as the hot liquid splashed over her hand. "When Pam asked us to consider you for a job, I was sceptical due to your reputation. But I've realised that's all it was – a reputation. You've proven yourself to be a nice guy and a good salesman over your time here. Don't spoil it."

"Don't spoil it by doing what, being attracted to you? Sorry, sweet cheeks, you're a little late with that warning." Eric stalked to the fridge and took out his lunch before slamming it back closed, the noise and violence of the act made Sookie wince.

"Just because you _want_ to have sex with me, doesn't mean we should!" Her hands automatically parked on her hips as the confrontation escalated.

Eric unscrewed the lid of his drink and gulped a mouthful down before facing Sookie. "And just because you don't want to admit that that kiss meant something, doesn't mean it didn't!"

Terry entered the break room to find Sookie and Eric both leaning at either side of the table. Their heads snapped around at the interruption and Terry held his hands up defensively.

"Sorry! I'll just ... uh ... go to Vic's for lunch."

Before the door was even closed properly, Sookie was building up another head of steam. She walked around the table and poked her finger into Eric's chest.

"Look! See what you've done with all your nonsense!"

"_My_ nonsense? Maybe if you'd act like a grown-ass woman and _talk_ to me, instead of running away like a teenager every time I asked to have a word in private – this wouldn't have happened!"

"Maybe if you acted like a _man_ instead of a whiny, needy geek who wanted reassurance – I would have talked to you!"

"Men need reassurance all the time, Sookie – you're not being logical!"

"Oh well listen to you Mr. Logic! Tell me this, Spock, you can probably get any woman you want in the sack – why is it so important that _I_ reassure you?"

"Because it's not all about sex!"

"You _don't_ want to have sex with me? What, am I too intelligent?"

"No – I _do_ want to have sex with you because you're so intelligent." Eric ran his fingers through his hair in frustration, pulling most of it out of the ponytail at the base of his skull. "I've been working next to you for weeks, I've seen how much you care, how much you know, how hard you try to help everyone – I like spending time with you, Sookie. I like _you_."

"Yeah? Well I like ... you too!" Although her sentence started with the same confrontational tone, it ended on a more subdued note as she realised that she just admitted her feelings without truly thinking about what she was saying.

_He's like a goddamn Polymorph, sucking the emotions out of me._

Eric chuckled and shook his head. "Well, I'm glad we got that cleared up. I like you; you like me. I'll pick you up at eight."

"Wait, what? What about eight?"

"Eight o'clock, tonight, for our date."

Sookie blinked as Eric grinned at her and took his lunch outside to eat in the late autumn sunshine. She watched as he walked away, not without admiring the view, and slumped into one of the chairs with her coffee in hand.

_See you at eight Mr. High Handed._

_SB Electrical – Geek Clique help desk_

Bill thought that, if there was anyone up there, they must have been smiling on him. Because he saw her before she saw him. He nudged Pam and pointed to the woman.

"_That_ is Lorena. I'm sure Sookie told you all about her. Whatever she wants – don't give it to her. Radio me when she's gone."

Pam blinked and nodded slightly before watching Bill scurry back to the stock holding area. When she turned back around Lorena was at the desk, drumming her fingernails against the polished surface and glaring at Pam.

"Can I help you?" Pam asked genially, a smile plastered on her face despite wanting to slap Lorena silly.

"I want to speak to Bill." Lorena looked down her nose at Pam, which annoyed Pam greatly because it was literal as well as figurative. Pam hated when tall people used their height against her.

"He's not here. Do you have a computer issue?"

"Uh ... yes! Yes I do. My computer needs someone to come and look at it, there's an error message."

"What does the error message say?"

"I ... I don't remember. Something about ... uh ... my drive being corrupt."

Pam raised an eyebrow. She knew plenty about this chick's motives, she used people to get what she wanted and now Bill was a millionaire she suddenly shows up with a broken computer and no solid information about what's wrong with it.

"Yeah, I've seen that before. You need a 1.21 gigawatt flux capacitor. We don't sell them here; you'll need to go to Buy Everything in Shreveport for that."

"Oh ... okay." Lorena frowned and wandered away from the desk.

Pam smirked and folded her arms. If Lorena was in the store looking for Bill, then she didn't get what she wanted. If she really did have a broken computer, she'd go to Buy Everything and make a fool of herself. Either way was win-win in Pam's eyes.

_Hummingbird Road, Bon Temps_

As if Sookie's evening hadn't been stressful enough so far, the last thing she needed was for a crazy asshole in a beat-up Dodge to swerve across lanes into Bill's driveway right in front of Eric's Corvette. She braced her hands against the dash as he stomped on the breaks, leaving both of them shaking slightly and staring at the cloud of dust that the Dodge had left behind.

"That was close!" Eric panted a little and licked his lips. "It was a personalised number plate – LR3NA. Do you think it was a local?"

Sookie narrowed her eyes at the settling dust. "Oh she's local alright, but I'd heard she moved up to the North-west. I just hope she's in as much of a hurry to leave because Bill told her to leave him alone. There can't be any doubt what it is Lorena's after this time."

"Oh! Pam told me she came into the store today looking for Bill."

Sookie nodded before closing her eyes and shaking her head slightly. When she opened her eyes again she looked at Eric with a bright smile.

"So where are you taking me?"

"I happen to know a place you'll love, but we need to get a move on or we'll be late."

The smile was soon replaced by gritted teeth as Sookie held on to both sides of her seat. Eric drove, oblivious to her terror as he weaved through traffic at break-neck speed.

_The Compton Mansion – Bon Temps_

Bill looked up from his paperwork as the doorbell rang. He smiled; briefly fantasising that Sookie must have heard about Lorena coming into the store and was visiting to stake her claim. Shaking himself out of the fantasy, he opened the door to find Lorena.

"What do you want?" He stepped in front of her as she tried to pass him to enter the house.

"Oh Billy-bear, I wanted to come and see you to check on how you're holding up." Her hand squeezed at his bicep. "Have you been working out? You never used to be this muscular!"

"It's called maturing from a boy into a man Lorena. You could have checked on me any time in the last two weeks – why now?"

"I've been in Seattle the last six months, Bill. As soon as I found out what happened I tried to get back but my boss wouldn't let me leave until I finished a project."

"Oh. Well, you've travelled all this way – I guess you should come in."

As the time passed, Bill started to regret inviting her inside. She was just as vapid and self-absorbed as she had been in high school but it was company. Listening to her drone on about how she worked up the ranks as a telemarketer was better than listening to the ticking clock.

"You must be so lonely here all by yourself, Billy-bear."

Bill was about to protest, on the cusp of telling her that he had friends who had been dropping by regularly. But then her hand stroked his thigh.

"Yes, I've been quite lonely. It's a big house to live in on your own."

Lorena nodded, pouting slightly and looking up at Bill with hooded eyes. "Would you like some company tonight?"

"That would be nice, Lorena, really nice."

_Marvellous DC's Restaurant, Alexandria_

Sookie looked around in awe as Spiderman placed plates on the table next to theirs and Wonder-Woman took an order not far away. The walls of the restaurant were covered with framed covers of some of the rarest comic books and the menu was themed to match.

"Can I take your order?"

She jumped as the Green Goblin seemed to spring up from nowhere but soon recovered. "I'll have the Superman salad to start, followed by the Jubilee steak."

"Excellent choice, and for you sir?"

"I'll have the same but with red Kryptonite olives in the salad rather than green."

The Green Goblin nodded and swept away from the table. Sookie leaned in and smiled at Eric. "This place is a trip! Where did you find out about it?"

"I heard about it years ago when it first opened and always wanted to see what it was like. None of the women I've ever taken to dinner would really appreciate it, but I knew you would."

"It's awesome! But I'm wondering at your choice of Kryptonite ... is it early comic book red Kryptonite that causes you to grow a third eye or Smallville red Kryptonite that makes you take off your clothes and dance like no-one's watching?"

"Maybe it'll give me a different power like ... flight or super speed ... or to become irresistible to pretty, blonde geniuses."

Sookie chewed on her bottom lip and thought that if he knew her well enough to take her to a comic-book themed restaurant on their first date, he was already striding past 'irresistible' and heading straight for 'panties go poof!'

_The Stackhouse Homestead – Bon Temps_

Adele was awoken by giggling. She sighed and rolled over to look at her clock. The fact that it was before midnight surprised her greatly. She hadn't expected Sookie home from her date this early. In fact, she hadn't expected Sookie home at all – she was anticipating her Granddaughter doing the walk of shame at breakfast time the next day.

_Either Sookie somehow thinks its okay to be canoodling under my roof or maybe the date didn't end like they wanted it to._

On the porch, Sookie's eyes flicked to her Gran's bedroom window. Eric was standing in front of her, his hands in his pockets and a wide smile on his face. Her skin was flushed pink from laughter and her eyes twinkled with joy – Eric thought she'd never looked as beautiful as she did in that moment. Sookie had enjoyed herself immensely; the bar on what she considered to be a good date had been raised considerably.

"I had a great time tonight, Eric. Thank you."

"Me too, we should go out again. I haven't had that much fun in ... a long time."

Sookie raised an eyebrow at that. "You've _clearly_ been hanging out with the wrong women!"

Eric thought about that for a second before replying. "Yes. I have."

Before Sookie could say anything more, Eric swooped in and kissed her. It was nothing like the rushed, awkward kiss that they shared before and both of them were taken by surprise at its intensity. When they pulled apart to breathe, Sookie noticed a curtain twitch out of the corner of her eye. Adele stepped away from the window and climbed back into bed.

_That's not the end of a date, that's the beginning of a romance!_

The old woman smiled and drifted back to sleep easily.


	9. The Worms that Turned

**Electric Limbo**

**Chapter 9 – The worms that turned.**

_The Compton Mansion – Bon Temps_

Bill rubbed his eyes as he walked down the stairs. The last few days had been hectic, hashing out the details of his new position in the company, dealing with his new affluence and coming to terms with the fact that so many people were nicer to him now he had money was exhausting. The pounding on the door was insistent and far too loud for him to handle at 5am. He angrily opened the door and actually growled when he saw who was standing there.

"Lorena – it was fun but, really, don't make a fool out of yourself like this."

"Shut up, Bill. You need to know why I really came back here, why I came back to you."

"Oh, gee, let me think." Bill sneered. "Would it have something to do with my bank balance?"

"Fuck you." Lorena screamed. "All these years I was looking for an excuse! You were nicer to me than any guy I've ever been with and what did I do? I ruined your career prospects! By the time I realised you were the best thing to ever happen to me, the damage was done."

Bill was shocked by her outburst and, finally, took in her appearance. Her clothes were obviously put on in haste, she had no make-up on and her eyes were puffy and red from crying. He nodded and stepped back from the entrance so she could come inside. Lorena stood by the fireplace, her back to Bill and her hand on the mantle to steady her.

"Hadley contacted me, I don't know how she found me but ..." She lifted her purse and turned it upside down, emptying several plastic baggies full of powders and pills onto the floor. "She wanted me to use my time here with you to sneak across and plant them in Sookie's house and in the store to implicate Pam and Eric. I met with her in New Orleans a few days ago, I don't know what Sookie did to her but Hadley wants her out of the picture."

Bill blinked and sat down heavily on the couch. "Well, that sucks."

_Apartment 1a, Chloe Street – New Orleans_

Amelia watched through her window as Hadley bounced down the stairs from her apartment. She rushed out of her door, calling to the other woman to get her attention. Hadley stopped and turned back, smiling at Amelia.

"Good Morning, Landlady! Is everything okay?"

"Everything is awesome." Amelia deadpanned. Everything was _not_ awesome, not while Hadley was having strange women and known drug dealers trooping into Amelia's property. "I hope you won't be having any more _interesting_ visitors, Hadley ... I don't appreciate my tenants entertaining the faces from the NOLA Narcotics mugshot catalogue."

"No." Hadley narrowed her eyes. "Everything is all set, they won't be coming back."

Amelia frowned and bit her lip. "Hadley, have you contacted your Gran or Sookie? I think they'd appreciate knowing that you're okay."

Hadley's eyes narrowed and her cheeks flushed in anger. "Sookie is the reason I'm down here! If she hadn't come back then _I'd_ still be Gran's right hand man. Her and her ... her Scooby gang, Pam, Eric ... and Bill too! Do have any idea how it feels? Having your own family muscle in and destroy your dreams? Sookie will get hers – and I can't wait to see it happen!"

Without waiting for a reply, Hadley stormed away leaving Amelia standing in the courtyard shaking her head.

_Her mouth is open, sound is coming from it. This is never good._

Deciding that Hadley's cryptic, cloak and dagger idiocy could never lead to anything but stupid stuff happening, Amelia pulled out her cell and hit Sookie's speed-dial.

_SB Electrical – Front Entrance_

Sookie paced at the door, stopping every few seconds to look at her watch. Finally, Bill appeared. He had spent time listening to Lorena's tale and asking her questions and decided his best course of action was to call a staff meeting as soon as he was able. Bill rushed in the door and grabbed Sookie's arm.

"We need to call a staff meeting ASAP."

"Whatever you want to discuss will need to wait, I've already called a meeting. Everyone available is in the break room."

"Sookie, trust me – I need to tell everyone what I heard this morning."

"I'm sure it's important, Bill, but I had a very distressing phone call just after breakfast. You'll need to wait until I say my piece."

"I'm not kidding around here; my news affects everyone in the store!"

"Well so does mine! And I called the meeting first, so you'll need to wait!"

Bill huffed and stood in front of Sookie. "We'll draw."

Sookie narrowed her eyes and nodded, she figured it must be really important for him to resort to this. They held out their right hands, balled into fists and spoke at the same time.

"Rock, paper, scissors, lizard, Spock!"

Bill's hand was shaped into a lizard's mouth and Sookie's fingers were signifying scissors. She smiled.

"Scissors decapitate lizard. I go first, come on, everyone's waiting."

They rushed back to the break room and Sookie apologised for keeping everyone waiting. She paced for a moment, wondering exactly how to put into words the call she'd had from Amelia. Adele cleared her throat and looked at her Granddaughter pointedly. They'd discussed that, as it was Sookie who had been given the information, it was her responsibility to make sure the staff were aware of the implications.

"Ah ... okay. Here's the thing – as you all know, Hadley was fired ... uh ... resigned recently. She didn't leave on good terms and ran off to New Orleans."

"Same old, same old, Sook. What's she gotten into now?"

Jason was smiling and shaking his head, he knew that Hadley was always getting herself into situations but he couldn't fathom something so huge that it would require half the staff to know about it.

"It seems that what Hadley has _gotten into_ is a really bad state of mind. I had a call from her landlady this morning to let me know that Hadley is supremely angry at pretty much everyone at SB, but mostly me, and has had a procession of dodgy characters stopping by. Apparently she's got some kind of plan to 'bring me and my Scooby gang down'."

Pam, who had been quietly seething at the mention of Hadley's name until this point, put her cast in the air before standing.

"You mean to tell us that, not only did she cause me to break my wrist, but now she's on some kind of vendetta because she got fired for it?"

Sookie nodded sadly. "That's about the size of things, yeah."

"There's more." Bill walked to the front of the room and stopped in front of Sookie. "I told you this was important."

"Your news adds _more_ to my news?" Sookie rubbed at her forehead with her fingertips and tightened her ponytail. "Well, the floor is yours Mr. Compton."

"This morning I also received some news. It seems that Hadley bribed a certain someone to come back into my life and plant all sorts of drugs around the store and in Sookie's house."

"Lorena! That bitch!" Sookie gasped but Bill held up a hand to stop her.

"Lorena confessed everything to me. She was supposed to seduce me, distract me and then call Hadley when everything was in place. Then the cops would be called, Sookie would be out of the picture and Hadley could come back home to fill her shoes. Although I doubt she took into account the implications that such a plan would have on the store – if drugs are found on the premises ... it would be a PR nightmare."

Sookie gagged. "Jesus Christ, Shepherd of Judea! Why would she do that? Why would she want to ruin us like that?"

Eric's fingers dug into his thighs. Pam's plastered arm got even itchier. Jason's eye started twitching. Sam leaned back in his chair and stretched before speaking.

"Because Hadley thinks in the now. She always has, she won't see the long term implications of it."

Eric, Pam and Jason nodded in agreement. But as much as they agreed with Sam, none of them could quite understand the motive behind the madness.

_The Compton Mansion – Bon Temps_

Lorena almost wore a path in the living room rug as she waited for Bill to get home from work. She didn't want to go back to the hotel – Hadley knew she had been staying there but she checked out before going to Bill's that morning. Knowing that she was supposed to have a progress report ready, Lorena had turned off her cell, but she called the hotel after lunchtime and was informed that a man had, indeed, came looking for her.

_It's only a matter of time before she works out where I am. What will she do to me? She obviously has other people working on this project ... nasty people._

A key rattled in the lock and a breath stuck in her chest. When she saw it was Bill, she blew out a sigh of relief and went into his arms.

"You're shaking, Lorena, what happened? Did Hadley call you?"

"No ... I just ... I'm scared, Bill. I don't know what they'll do if they find me, a guy went looking for me at the hotel."

"Don't worry sweetheart." Bill rubbed her shoulders. "He was probably just sent to kill you!"

"What!?" Lorena gasped as she pulled away from him.

"Bazinga!"

_Apartment 2b, Chloe Street – New Orleans_

Hadley stared out of her kitchen window as Amelia tended a small flower bed in the courtyard. She should have been thinking about the reasons that her Gran made her resign. She should have been reconsidering the attempt to get revenge on her cousin that would possibly close down the family business that she had only recently left.

But instead, she was thinking about how Amelia had betrayed her. In Hadley's mind (which was an awful place to be - without extra resentment), if her plans failed – she would be able to return home and beg forgiveness. But now she had nothing. She could never go back.

_It's all Amelia's fault!_

Like many who suffer from delusions or are ruled by their own ego and desires, Hadley just couldn't see that she had done anything wrong. Her brain wasn't wired to take responsibility, not now anyway, with her growing up believing that what Bartlett had done to her was her fault – her psyche was all full up on responsibility.

Amelia pushed the trowel into the dirt, digging deeper as she tried to get that one weed that always resisted. She hacked at the dirt as her stomach tied in knots. Amelia had an awful feeling that something was coming to bite her in the ass. When she turned around and looked up at Hadley's kitchen window, she knew exactly who would be doing the biting. Her cat, Bob, rubbed against her leg and purred.

"So what should I do now?" She reached down and scratched behind his left ear. "The only thing Hadley is guilty of is being Hadley and that's her punishment too. It's time to step up to red alert, even if it _does_ mean changing the bulb."

_Buy Everything – Shreveport_

"Felipe, I thought you were told you had to keep the stores out of this vendetta you have against the Stackhouse girl?" Lafayette's voice was bored as he inspected his nail polish.

"I can't do anything that would ... inspire her to take her revenge on Buy Everything property, that doesn't mean we can't plan on our downtime." Felipe grinned maniacally. "And plan we must, right now she and her Scooby gang will be gloating over their victory, thinking they've won."

"So what's your next move? You can't target her at work, she kicked your ass online ... short of stealing her laundry or slashing her tyres, I'm tapped out."

Felipe sneered. "Nothing so unsophisticated ... something will come up."

_SB Electrical – Cash Desk_

Arlene chattered happily to her new colleague, Heidi, she was relieved to have someone share the load at the pay point and excited to have a female working alongside her so she could gush about her fledgling relationship with Terry.

"And he's such a sweetheart; you know he loves his catahoula so much, he built her a two storey kennel in the yard?"

"Really? That's so sweet."

Heidi smiled and nodded, hoping that Arlene would suddenly become afflicted with severe laryngitis and lose the ability to make noise with her mouth ... and she only started her first shift half an hour before.

"And we're dressing up as Sandy and Danny for Halloween! What are you coming as?"

"Sorry – what?"

"Halloween, they do this thing where you have to come to the store in costume." Arlene's eyes twinkled as she explained the tradition. "I thought it sounded lame too, but I'm really getting into it!"

Heidi blinked and opened and closed her mouth like fish out of water. "Bill mentioned that after the interview but I thought he was joking!"

Arlene shook her head. "No, honey, it's pretty much mandatory and the Stackhouses are really serious about it – Sookie won't even give anyone a hint about her costume. She says it's a surprise for someone special."

"Oh yeah?" Heidi snorted. "She's a popular girl, that's for sure. I see she's pretty close to Eric, and Bill is hanging around her too."

"Well ... Bill was her high school sweetheart and ..." Arlene leaned in conspiratorially "I heard that she got her cousin, Hadley, fired so she could get her hooks into Eric."

Heidi's eyes widened. "Really?"

"That's what Hadley was saying up at Vic's Redneck Roadhouse after she left the store that day. But that girl was no-tor-eeee-us for making up crap to make herself sound better. I don't know Sookie too well but she seems nice enough, and she's pretty – Hadley was probably bumpin' her gums to cover for that accident with Pam."

"What happened with Pam?"

Arlene smiled, but internally she was jumping up and down and doing dance of joy because she – finally – had someone to share all the gossip with.


	10. The Hadley Collider

**Electric Limbo**

**Chapter 10 – The Hadley Collider**

_SB Electrical – Ladies locker room_

Sookie paced back and forth with her cell phone to her ear. She was making an important call. In the grand scheme of things, it wasn't that important – but right at that minute, it was _very_ important to her. Ever since her date with Eric, she had been planning this. Everything had to be perfect. Heidi stopped as she reached the door, which was ajar and letting all manner of people be privy to Sookie's side of the phone conversation.

"Look, I don't want your cheap efforts – I want top quality gear. You're sure it's the real deal?"

_This sounds sooo not on the level._

Heidi backed away from the door, not quite knowing what to think about what she had overheard. She didn't know enough about Sookie to determine what she may have been trying to procure – but she knew a man who did.

_Buy Everything – Shreveport_

Felipe raised an eyebrow as Heidi's name flashed on the screen of his phone. He looked around, Andre was out to lunch and the store was very quiet. So he answered.

"Calling to ask for your job back, Heidi?"

"Actually, no, how much do you know about Sookie Stackhouse? Has she ever been involved with any gossip about drugs?"

He smiled; he smiled so much he almost forgot he was on the phone to someone. Heidi's voice shook him out of his euphoria when she checked to make sure he was still on the line.

"Funny you should mention that – I _did_ hear something about her premature departure from LSU being drug-related."

_Quiznos – Off I-20, Ruston_

Calvin Norris and his partner, Patrick Furnan, slurped on their coffees and waited. The Intel they received was shoddy at best, hearsay at worst, but every lead had to be followed. Calvin choked a little as Pat nudged him and pointed to a large man wearing cap, sunglasses and carrying a package wrapped in brown paper went into the sandwich bar.

"Looks like the courier." Pat took out a Radio and pressed the button. "Caucasian male, five ten, wearing brown leather jacket, Tampa Bay Lightning cap and black framed sunglasses has entered Quiznos with a large package under his left arm. The package is wrapped in brown paper and seems to be unmarked."

Calvin rolled his eyes, he was pretty sure their '(wo)man on the inside' of the sandwich bar would have recognised someone out of place without the details, and went back to watching the door of the sandwich bar. They didn't wait long for the buyer to show. Calvin took out his notebook and looked at the description. "Long, wavy blonde hair pulled back in a ponytail, five foot six, stacked and wearing a shirt that says 'Hi, my name is Leeroy Jenkins'. This is our girl."

Sookie walked into Quiznos and got a tall coffee to go, she scanned the other customers casually as she waited and nodded to the man who was sitting at a table in a corner. He nodded back and Sookie jerked her head back toward the door, trying to disguise it as flicking her hair out of the way.

"_Oh yeah somethin's goin' down here."_

Calvin's eyes snapped to the radio as Luna's voice came through. She had been sitting in the restaurant, pretending to read some cheap romance novel for the last forty-five minutes. Pat nodded to him and they both got ready to leave the comfort of the unmarked car. They watched the blonde walk out holding a cup of something and head towards an older model, yellow Nova. Moments later, the courier came out and walked over to the same car. They wasted no time.

Sookie salivated, her fingers itched and she had to stop herself from grabbing the package out of the guy's hands. When he handed it over to her, she immediately pulled at the strings.

"Stop right there and put down the package!"

_Wow, that clicking noise sounds just like the guns they use in movies._

She looked up from her prize and saw two plain clothes policemen pointing handguns at them. She dropped the package and put her hands in the air.

_SB Electrical – Loading Bay_

Andy sat heavily on the edge of the concrete ledge. Already today he'd had to endure Eric's moon eyes at Sookie, Lorena bringing Bill his lunch (although Andy did note that Bill wasn't particularly impressed with the effort) and Terry and Arlene making out in the stock area between the Microwaves and sandwich toasters.

_Maybe Mee-Maw is right, I'll never find a woman now my best years are behind me. I'm destined to be alone. A lone wolf. The lone ranger ... ah crap – he doesn't count, he had Tonto._

He tore off a mouthful from his sandwich and chewed despondently. The view from the loading bay did nothing to cheer him up and he was glad when the beeping of a truck reversing into the bay gave him something else to look at. Andy stood up and walked off to the side so the delivery from the computer parts wholesaler could be unloaded.

When Terry came to the bay he looked flushed and dishevelled. Andy ripped at his sandwich with his teeth again. The driver of the truck jumped out and tipped her hat to Andy before jumping onto the ledge with her clip board.

"_Oooooh dreeeeeam weaver, I believe you can get me through the na-hight."_

Andy blinked as the driver smiled right at him, the name 'Halleigh' emblazoned across the left breast of her overalls. Terry answered his phone with a frown.

"Arlene, I love ya but changin' my ring tone to Gary Wright just ain't funny!"

While Terry was arguing over the phone with a woman that was twenty yards away inside the building, Halleigh made her way over to Andy.

"Hey, can you help with this? I have some more deliveries to make and I'm on a schedule."

"Uh ... sure." When Andy stood next to her to check the delivery, he inhaled her perfume deeply but tried not to come off as a creeper who sniffs every woman he comes across. "Is that Clinique's 'Happy' you're wearing?"

Halleigh looked at Andy strangely but nodded. "Yes, it's my favourite. You've got a good nose there."

Andy blushed and looked at his feet. "I bought it for my Me ... Grandma on Christmas but she didn't like it and uses it to make the sheets smell nice. You smell like my bed."

"Excuse me?" Halleigh raised an eyebrow.

"Uh ... I _like_ the smell of my bed ... I mean, I like your smell ... I mean, I like your perfume ... I'm just gonna go now."

Andy turned and started to walk back into the building, his shoulders slumped in defeat and paying no mind to the fact he just left the delivery sitting on the loading bay.

"Wait!" Halleigh's voice made him stop and tense up. "My last boyfriend hated the smell of my favourite perfume. I like that you like it."

Andy turned around to find Halleigh smiling at him.

_Never find a woman my sweet patootie, Mee-Maw!_

_Vic's Redneck Roadhouse_

"I can't believe someone called the cops and told them I was taking part in a drug deal! But it couldn't have been Hadley – she's still in New Orleans ... who else would be so callous?"

Sookie shook her head and stuffed another fry into her mouth. Pam joined in with the head shaking and added a curled lip in for good measure.

"You know this stinks of Felipe De Castro – it's the same kind of cheap shot that he's been taking at you for weeks."

Heidi sat next to them stiffly, sipping at her club soda and trying to blend in with the decor behind her. Chow stole some fries from Sookie's plate and chewed them thoughtfully.

"So, what _were_ you picking up? I mean, it must have looked shady if the cops even thought about intervening."

"My Halloween costume, its custom made ... by a guy who didn't want his customers to know he was making Halloween costumes when he should have been hemming curtains."

"Seriously?" Pam snorted. "All that cloak and dagger crap for a costume?"

"It's not just _any_ costume, Pam. And the woman who's waiting for her curtains has been stalking him."

Heidi blinked and shook her head. "Why would you stalk someone over curtains?"

Everyone at the table shrugged and went back to drinking and eating. Sookie valued the time to bond with the newbies who had started – it had been her idea to take them to Vic's. She paid no mind to the other customers around them until Chow and Heidi sat up straight and stared at the strange man who just stepped in the door. Sookie had never seen the man they were looking at before, she was sure she'd remember meeting a guy with long silver hair. She was even more perplexed to see him walking toward their table and bypassing the bar completely.

"I'm looking for Sookie, Pam or Eric. Am I to believe I'm in the presence of Sookie and Pam?"

Chow stood up and faced the stranger. "These are not the blondes you're looking for. Why are you here, Niall?"

"I come in peace." Niall flicked his eyes toward Sookie and then Pam. "My superior is on the warpath and is making some very big plans for your downfall."

Sookie gulped and stared at Niall with wide eyes. "You don't work for a woman who's been waiting on some curtains do you?"

_SB Electrical – Manager's Office_

Jason walked into the room with a smile on his face but it soon turned to a frown when he noticed his Gran wasn't wearing her usual 'Mother Superior' costume. He took a moment to try and guess what she was dressed up as, wearing plain slacks and a delicately patterned blouse, but all he could come up with was 'Normal Gran'.

"Gran, I'm tryin' here but I just can't guess what your costume is! Do you have a badge or somethin' to finish it off?"

Adele looked at Jason and wondered why on earth he'd chosen to dress as a construction worker. "I won't be here for the party, Jason. I've got ... an errand to run. It's very important and can't wait; otherwise you know I'd be there with my _bad habit_."

She snorted while Jason blinked; not quite getting what was funny. "Well that's a damn shame. I'll make sure and take plenty of pictures so you see everyone's costumes."

"Yes – is there a reason you picked that get up?" Adele placed her cell phone in her purse and grabbed her car keys.

"I was strugglin' to come up with somethin' but Pam suggested this." He grinned. "I'm hopin' she's got a thing for guys who do manual labourin' and such."

Adele raised an eyebrow but put her doubts about Pam's reasoning to one side. She had a big job to do and a very small window of opportunity to do it. With the information that they'd received, it was possible she'd already waited too long.

_Apartment 1a – Chloe Street – New Orleans_

Amelia kept an eye on Hadley, as Adele and Sookie had asked her to, keeping track of her comings and goings, noting any visitors. She knew Adele would be arriving soon and that Hadley was at home, Amelia just hoped that Hadley would stay there until Adele's arrival. She didn't want to think of how difficult it would be if Hadley went out and saw her Gran's car parked outside – there was a chance she would disappear and prolong the inevitable. Her phone buzzed as a text message arrived.

_**Half an hour away. Is she still home?**_

Amelia replied and continued her vigil. If Hadley was willing to go to extreme measures to take revenge on her own flesh and blood, she didn't want to think about what plans would be concocted against her if this all fell through. Twenty minutes later, Hadley's door opened and she stepped out.

_Shit!_

The landlady rushed out of her own door and intercepted. "Hey! Hadley, where are you off to?"

"None of your business." Hadley's eyes narrowed and she stepped toward Amelia, expecting her to move aside. "Excuse me, I have things to do."

"Well, before you go off and do that, I was wondering if I could have a word?"

Hadley sighed deeply, obviously not interested in anything Amelia might say. "Go on then."

"Umm ... well ... I ..." Amelia struggled to think of something that might be important enough to keep Hadley in place until Adele got there. "I was wondering who that guy was, the guy that left early yesterday morning and that woman who visited you last night and left very late, I'm sure I remember telling you to keep the amount of people trooping in and out to a minimum."

"Seriously? What? Am I not allowed to have _any_ visitors at all?"Hadley's flared nostrils alerted Amelia to an impending tantrum. Tantrums resulted in Hadley running.

"I didn't say that, but with all the activity in your apartment, other residents have been asking questions about the kind of people I let rent from me. Can you try maybe only having one or two different visitors a week rather than one or two a day? Just until people stop asking questions." Amelia smiled; she tried to make it as bright and innocent as possible.

Another bored sigh was issued from Hadley's mouth before she nodded. "Sure, whatever. Can I go now?"

"Uh ... I ..." _Just a few more minutes!_ "I was wondering if you were thinking of getting a job, y'know, it must be pretty boring sitting at home all day."

"Well, you would know that's what _you_ do." Hadley sneered. "But, yeah, I'm looking for a job. Don't worry, you'll keep getting paid."

"Oh, that's not what I'm worried ..." Amelia turned to see a car pull into the parking bays, an older woman at the wheel. _Please be Adele!_

Hadley pushed Amelia to the side. "What the ... what is my Gran doing here? Did you arrange this? I should have _known_ there was some creepy motive for you keeping me talking!"

Adele walked over and stood in front of them, her eyebrows furrowed at her Granddaughter in disappointment. "Do you have a problem with me visiting unannounced and asking your landlady to make sure you were home when I arrived?"

"Well ... _yes_! I was on my way somewhere important!" Hadley huffed and pulled her cell phone from her purse. "Hello, my name is Hadley Delahoussey, I had a job interview scheduled today ... yes, that's right ... I'm afraid I won't be able to make the appointment, some urgent family business has just come up ... I understand if you don't want to reschedule ... really? Yes! Tomorrow is fine ... I'll see you then, thank you!"

Putting her phone away, Hadley stared at her Gran. "It's lucky that they think my work experience will fit in and want to reschedule my interview."

Adele apologised and ushered Hadley back up to her apartment, thanking Amelia for her trouble as she passed.


	11. The 'I' in Team

**Electric Limbo**

**Chapter 11 – The 'I' in Team**

_SB Electrical Superstore – Bon Temps Retail Park_

Most of the staff mingled with the customers in their costumes, Jason continuing the tradition of keeping a photographic record of everyone. Arlene and Terry played up to their Sandy and Danny costumes by singing songs from Grease every time Terry brought something out to the pay counter. Heidi curtseyed and smiled sweetly like the princess costume dictated. Pam lounged against the Geek Clique helpdesk in the striking yellow and Maroon of Sunnydale High's cheerleaders. Portia and Caroline made a fine pair of zombies, apparently the make-up didn't come in a smaller size and it seemed a shame and waste of money to only use half of it. Andy got into the spirit of the holiday, hamming it up as Dracula while Chow practiced the ninja moves to go with his costume by sneaking up on everyone.

There were laugh out loud moments when Eric's Thor and Bill's Loki faced each other and an almost shoplifter was thrown out of the store by Quinn's Hagrid. Sam polished a prop glass behind the counter and held it up before pretending to spit in it again.

"Sookie's kinda late." He looked at Andy and threw the bar towel over his shoulder.

"Yup. Said she wanted to make an entrance so she'd be starting after everyone else was in the store." Andy shook his head. "Although, I guess with all the hullabaloo around her getting her costume, bein' almost arrested an all, she's entitled to a little attention."

Moments later Quinn, in an accent that was supposed to be Hagrid but sounded more like Gollum, announced over the radios that Sookie had arrived.

The staff quickly made their way to where they could see Sookie walk into the store, whether they were with a customer or not. Jason had his camera at the ready as the door opened and the shadowy, orange figure through the frosted glass became visible as Cheetara. Eric froze in place as he gazed upon her lithe figure in the orange and yellow costume, her hair teased to perfection, sprayed yellow with black spots.

"What on third earth is that noise?" Pam frowned and looked around for the source of the drawn out 'ahhhhhhh' before throwing one of her pompoms at Thor's head. The noise stopped.

_Apartment 2b – Chloe Street, New Orleans_

Hadley sat across from her Gran, both of them sipping at their coffee and waiting for the other to talk. Adele, knowing how obstinate her Granddaughter could be, got sick of waiting.

"Aren't you going to ask why I'm here?"

Hadley shrugged and continued to drink. Adele sighed.

"Right now, you're still part of the family. You get your allowance and, when I'm dust in the wind, you'll inherit part of the business and your share of the Stackhouse Homestead." She paused, letting that sink in. "If you continue this ridiculous revenge scenario against Sookie, which could have ruined the company's reputation, those things will be gone. Poof! You're written out of my will, you will get nothing while I'm alive or when I'm dead."

Hadley stopped drinking, the mug halfway to her mouth.

"And don't think I'm as stupid as you think I am. If _anything_ happens to Sookie ... or Eric, Pam or even Bill ... that looks like it's had your grubby paws on it – you're out. So, you should really look at Sookie as an investment – a financial package that needs to be ... nurtured, protected."

Hadley's eyes narrowed and her mug slammed down on the table. "And what if Sookie does something stupid and blames me?"

Adele blinked and sipped. "Don't be silly Hadley, not only does Sookie have the sense not to do stupid things, but she's got the balls to take responsibility for her actions. You're assuming everyone is as spiteful as you, they aren't."

"I'm not spiteful!" Hadley sputtered.

Adele laughed ... and laughed ... and laughed.

_SB Electrical Superstore_

The late afternoon lull was usually a social time in the store, where everyone caught up with everyone else's day, and Halloween was no different. That quieter time between the pre-dinner shoppers and the post-dinner shoppers was treasured by the staff, to an extent, a brief respite to catch their collective breaths. That's why it was so annoying that Felipe decided to storm through the door with Lafayette and Bruno at his side, Bruno holding his phone out to preserve the moment in all its digital glory.

In full battle dress, breastplate, sword and shield, Felipe took a deep breath in through his nose. "I, leader of the Knights of De Castronia, challenge this feeble band of misfits to a battle to the death!"

Sookie sauntered over, her confusion apparent to all, and stopped a few feet away from him. "Uh ... whut?"

Felipe rolled his eyes and tossed a scroll tied with a black ribbon in her direction. "All of the details are there, I look forward to you forfeiting!"

Laffy and Bruno joined in Felipe's laughter as they left the store, the few customers around not really knowing what they just witnessed.

Bill sidled up to Eric and nudged him. "Does that guy always laugh like a Bond villain?"

Eric shrugged. "Meh ... kind of, I don't think I've ever heard him laugh like ... laughing at a joke or something."

"Maybe it's a medical condition?" Bill frowned.

Eric snorted.

_Vic's Redneck Roadhouse – 9pm_

The entire team of SB Electrical, plus Lorena, took up a whole corner of Vic's establishment. Vic whistled happily as he went back and forth with pitchers of beer and plates of chicken fingers and fries. He had a couple of waitresses now, but he liked to provide the folks from SB with personal service.

_Yessiree, lettin' these guys stick around was surely the best decision I ever made!_

Adele walked in and nodded to Vic as she made her way to the SB table. Vic quickly got a sweet tea ready for her and was placing it in front of her on the table as she was sitting down.

"Why, thank you Vic! Much appreciated!"

"Not a problem, ma'am, all part of Vic's care package!"

Everyone at the table smiled and thanked Vic for his hard work before turning to Adele, awaiting the results of her excursion to New Orleans. They stuffed chicken fingers and fries into their mouths with expectant eyes on the Stackhouse matriarch, Halloween makeup smudged and hair flattened after a day of running around the store.

"Hadley has been dealt with. I gave her the choice to keep her allowance and return home where I could keep an eye on her or stay in New Orleans and pay her own way. She chose New Orleans ... in fact she has a job interview tomorrow which looks very promising – at a branch of Buy Everything of all places!"

"But she's given up on the whole 'get Sookie' plan, right?" Sookie bit her lip and furrowed her brow.

Adele nodded. "She knows the score with that one but has a valid concern – should you do something idiotic, Sookie, and try to blame it on her, I'll be most displeased."

"I would _never_ ..."

"I know." Adele held up her hand to calm her other Granddaughter. "But I just wanted to get it out there."

Vic beamed as he dropped more full plates on the table and took away the empty ones. "Everything okay with you fine folks?"

"It's great, Vic!" Andy nodded happily. "Are these new glasses? And I noticed the napkins have had an upgrade too, things lookin' up for ya?"

"Yes, sir, they are! What with you guys comin' in regular like, and other folks from the retail park stoppin' by too ... I'm doin' well!"

"Good ta hear!" Andy slapped the table. "Vic's doin' well, we're doin' well, Hadley ain't a problem and it's smooooooth sailin'!"

"Not quite." Sookie placed the scroll on the table and everyone groaned, except Lorena and Adele. The two women glanced at each other and shrugged. "This is a challenge from Felipe, or The Knights of De Castronia as he's called his team; it's addressed to the whole store – not just me."

She unrolled the paper and passed it around the table. As the group read it there were groans, sneers and some cursing too. Once everyone had perused the document, Sookie rolled it back up, tied the black ribbon around it and tapped it on the table.

"The Shreveport Dragon's Lair LARP Guild has recorded the challenge. Felipe is certain that we'll forfeit – he thinks we're either too scared to face him or that we can't get a good team together. We need a team of ten and we need to register with the guild and respond to the challenge within three days of receiving it."

"Forfeiting is _not_ an option." Bill's eyes narrowed.

"And a Bellefleur never backs down from a challenge!" Andy crossed his arms.

"So we're doing this?" Pam sipped at her soda and looked around the table.

"Oh, yeah, we're _soooo_ doing this!" Eric grinned.

_Buy Everything – Shreveport_

Bruno, Niall and Barry stopped stacking the shelves as Felipe approached. He was smiling, that meant the SB mob hadn't accepted the challenge yet – and there were only 12 hours left. Felipe nodded to them, his eyes twinkling with smug delight.

"Imagine the scene, men, we will stride to an empty battlefield, have the guild record the lack of registration publicly and drink to the cowardice of Sookie and her damned rebellion!"

Laffy leaned against the shelving unit, his false eyelashes glittering under the halogen lights. "Still time, Fifi, you should know better than to gloat before you win and you should know better than to think Stackhouse shies away from a challenge."

Felipe's eye twitched uncontrollably.

_SB Electrical – Break Room_

Sookie had gone over everything they needed to do – make weapons and armour and have a team of ten trained in the art of LARP fighting. Sookie knew that Eric, Bill and Pam would be by her side in battle but finding six other volunteers was her main concern.

"Between stock runs, Terry and Chow will make the weapons – high quality foam, bamboo and duct tape. Gran and Caroline have agreed to work on a uniform of sorts to wear and some armour ... but I still need more people for the team." Sookie chewed on her bottom lip as she looked around the room at those who attended the pre-opening briefing.

"Hell, I'm in!" Jason grinned, Sam high fived him and Gave Sookie a thumbs up.

_Okay, four more!_

Andy stood up and nodded. "Like I said, a Bellefleur never backs down from a challenge."

Quinn and Chow both put their hands up. Portia folded her arms and leaned back in her chair.

"So, basically, we run around in the woods with foam swords and smack the shit out of some assholes?"

"Yeah. This is a boffer LARP guild – no magic." Sookie grinned evilly "No mercy."

Portia seemed to mull that over before nodding. "Screw it, I'm in, sounds like great stress relief."

Sookie fist pumped and smiled maniacally. "We are fully functional!"

_Shreveport Dragon's Lair LARP Guild – Website_

**Challenge Accepted!**

The Knights of De Castronia Challenged SB Electrical Superstore to a battle to the death and SB Electrical Superstore (playing under the team name of 'The Fellowship of Turtles') have accepted their challenge!

The two brave armies will face each other on the battlefields of Clyde Fant Running Park at 1pm this Sunday (24th August). The battle will be overseen by officials from Shreveport Dragon's Lair Guild.

We wish these brave heroes good luck and Godspeed! May the most cunning and strong be triumphant!

_Buy Everything – Shreveport_

Laffy had been staring at Felipe for a full minute and his boss hadn't blinked yet, even with Bruno waving his hand in front of his face. Laffy sighed and slapped Felipe, lightly, on the cheek.

"Fifi! Snap out of it sugah-plum – you got five other Knights to find!"

Felipe shook his head and stared at Laffy, his eyes welling up. "But she was supposed to forfeit!"

"Well, she didn't!" Bruno grumbled. "And now we're stuck with a crappy team name too!"

"You should have known better than to goad that girl, Fifi." Barry crossed his arms and narrowed his eyes at Felipe. "From past experience, didn't it occur to you that she'd jump at the chance for payback?"

"I'm the only one here that's allowed to call him Fifi!" Laffy pointed a magenta nail at Barry. "She's accepted; there's nothing we can do about that now except grab five other folks to get suited up for Sunday."

Felipe gulped and nodded.


	12. SmokemeaKipper, I'llbeBack for Breakfast

**Electric Limbo**

**Chapter 12 – Smoke me a Kipper, I'll be Back for Breakfast.**

_Clyde Fant Running Park – Shreveport_

Felipe and the rest of the Knights of De Castronia strode onto the battlefield, some with purpose, others with minimal interest, only to find that the Fellowship of Turtles was already there – Sookie, front and centre, in a green long sleeve shirt and yoga pants with a blue bandana with holes cut out over her eyes. His eyes perused the rest of her group – three more in green and the rest in red, including one who looked like a brunette Brienne of Tarth, one with a furry hat with dog ears and one wearing a yellow hardhat and carrying a slingshot and a bag of foam rocks.

"A rag-tag group of fighters." Felipe sniffed haughtily. "I thought I'd given enough notice for you to prepare a little better than this."

Sookie slowly marched over and smiled sweetly at her nemesis. "We may be rag-tag and a little unprepared – but every single member of my team wants to be here and wants to take you down."

Felipe looked back at his own band of warriors and tried not to count the amount of times he'd had to answer the question 'why are we doing this, again?' in the last 48 hours. He sneered at them and turned back to the Stackhouse nuisance.

"Seasoned in the art of combat overcomes wrath, girl!"

Sookie's eyes hardened and she struck Felipe in the chest with her elbow before taking out one of her foam katanas and holding it to his throat. "I'm soooo not a girl."

"Enough of this nonsense!" A very official-looking young man with thick spectacles and a lisp stood on a wooden crate. "I, Marquis D'Hoffryn, demand that the two bands of warriors take their places on the battlefield. The skirmish will begin when I blow the whistle, it will end when the leader of any group loses their pennant to an opposing warrior!"

Sookie sauntered over and took the red scarf from Marquis D'Hoffryn, tying it tightly to her belt and nodding her thanks while Felipe accepted his blue scarf by kissing the Marquis' hand and touching the scarf to his forehead in reverence before tucking it inside the top of his glove. The Marquis smiled smugly and stroked Felipe's hair before snapping his fingers.

"The Fellowship of ... ahem ... Turtles will defend the castle." The Marquis pointed to a cardboard portcullis gate, slightly visible amongst the trees. "The Knights of De Castronia will attack from outside the forest of valour. Take your places!"

"The forest of valour?" Eric raised an eyebrow, which was unseen by the others from underneath his red eye mask, but the sarcasm in his tone was recognised.

"Don't question it Raphael – just go with it, we're the visiting team here." Sam tugged his furry hat over his ears.

"Whatever dog-boy." Eric shook his head.

"He prefers 'The Hound'." Pam smiled gleefully. "And I, for one, am very excited about cracking some skulls with this Bo Staff! I don't care what they call this place, as long as I get some action!"

The Fellowship of Turtles convened at the portcullis. Sookie gathered them round for a pep talk. "This'll need to be quick, but I need the biggest and strongest to defend the ... castle ... and the smallest and quickest out there in the trees to pick off the attackers. Pam, Sam, Bill and Chow – you're the first line of ..."

The Marquis D'Hoffryn, more usually known as Lucas De Castro, blew his whistle, knowing fully that the Fellowship of Turtles wasn't ready, but his Uncle Felipe was a regular at Dragon's Lair, so he had to give him the advantage. The stewards from the Dragon's Lair Guild looked on, slightly perturbed by the leader of the bout's actions, but knowing it was too late to do anything about it. They were aware that D'Hoffryn and Sir Felipius usually LARPed on the same team and that this battle was a personal favour for Felipius.

Felipe watched from the rear as his soldiers crept toward their target, a rabid scream sounded to his left and he saw Barry struck down by the rebel Pam, he didn't even put up that much of a fight – he just sighed and let her strike him across the chest with her staff.

"Player ..." The steward checked his list. "Barrington Swynford is incapacitated for thirty seconds!"

Jason leapt from behind a tree and took aim; his 'rock' hit Barry right between the eyes.

"Player Barrington Swynford is dead!" The steward walked over and pointed Barry toward the pit of the fallen and Barry sighed.

"Thank God!" He, gratefully, went to sit and drink coffee for the duration of the game. He couldn't wait to get home and put all this behind him.

To Felipe's left, Bill swung his nun chucks ineffectually against Bruno. "Take him _out_ Viscount Brunesus!"

Felipe's teeth ground in rage as Bill's nun chucks twisted, accidently, around Brunesus sword and disarmed him, leaving the Hound to impale Brunesus on his rusty pike.

"Booyakasha!" Bill and Sam high fived and sprinted off out of Felipe's line of sight.

At the 'Castle', Sookie paced anxiously then stopped, causing Eric to bump into her ... again. "I know you said you wanted to stick by my side through thick and thin but could you do that from more than six inches away?"

Her eyes were drawn to movement in the trees as Chow was almost beheaded by the guy with long silver hair but dodged at the last second and ran for safety. Andy ran up to her, panting excitedly.

"I chopped off one o' their sword arms!" He grinned. "Gonna just head back over and finish him."

Sookie nodded, she was glad the team seemed to be having so much fun – especially Portia. 'Office' Portia was about as much fun as colonic irrigation but 'LARP' Portia was large and in charge ... until Felipe himself put his sword through her back.

Portia stretched out her arm toward Andy. "Avenge me!"

"You're damn right I will." Andy growled and stomped toward Felipe, but Sir Felipius was quick and Andy lost him in the trees. "Ah!"

Andy felt the 'thwack' of duct tape covered foam on his neck and looked up at Lafayette, who was smiling and fixing his neckerchief after the exertion.

"Well played ... Laffy, is it?"

"Today I'm supposed to be known as 'The Viceroy Lafayette', but I don't care much for it – Laffy is ... what the..."

Chow grinned as he slapped his sword against Laffy's chest. "Laffy is dead!"

Chow ran off, laughing, as Andy and Laffy trudged to the pit of the fallen to join Barry, Bruno and Portia. They passed Bill being speared by a Dragon's Lair regular that Felipe had recruited and waited for him so they could walk together.

Pam landed next to Sookie and Eric, scaring them both. "It's even at the moment – they've killed three and we've killed three. We need to get the odds in our favour, Mistress."

"Wow, you're really getting into this, Pam." Sookie blinked.

"Yes! I am! But, here on the fields of blood, I am The Dark Lady Donatella!" Pam's eyes sparkled with joy.

"Cool!" Sookie grinned. "You, Chow and Sam do the super quick ninja thing – have Jason back you up with his slingshot and, if you find Quinn, send him back to Castle for additional defence."

Pam sighed and shook her head. "Yes, I, The Hound and Master Oyabun will distract and stage guerrilla attacks while Jasonator takes out the injured – I will send word to Riddick to return to base ASAP!"

Pam leapt away, running full speed for the trees. Eric nudged Sookie and winked when she turned to him. "Wanna fool around, Leonarda?"

"Stop it!" Sookie giggled. "We need to stay vigilant."

Eric nodded and saluted before standing back to back with Sookie. "I haven't seen Qui ... Riddick since the whistle blew. He's a huge guy – we should be able to see him moving through the trees."

Sookie squinted into the forest. Eric was right, she hadn't seen hide nor hair ... well, Quinn was bald but the sentiment remained. A hissing from the bush to her left startled her.

_Psssst._

"Did you hear that, Eric?"

"Yeah."

_Pssst!_

Sookie slowly stepped toward the bush, swords at the ready, but jumped back with a squeak when she saw two eyes peering out at her. The branches were pushed aside to reveal a monstrous form, covered with mud and leaves.

"It is I, Riddick."

"Jesus Christ, Shepherd of Judea! John Quinn, you nearly gave me heart failure!"

"It's perfect!" Eric gushed. "Just stay there unless the situation gets dire!"

Riddick nodded and bent the branches of the bush back to the way they had been. He was hidden, he was silent, his strike would be swift. He was death.

"Prince Niall of the Sky Fae is dead!" The steward's voice echoed through the trees.

The Dark Lady Donatella used her slight frame to her advantage, she could hear the brute dragging his feet through the fallen leaves, kneeling she picked up a small rock and threw it away from her. The brute turned to check the noise and she struck him on the back of the neck once before rolling into the undergrowth.

"Sir Polonius is incapacitated for thirty seconds."

Jasonator pulled back the pouch from his perch on high and aimed. His rock hit Sir Polonius' shield arm.

"Sir Polonius is injured – use of sword arm only. Jasonator is disqualified – hiding with a ranged weapon is against Guild etiquette."

Master Oyabun swept toward Sir Polonius from his off-hand and struck before the brute could turn to use his weapon.

"Sir Polonius is dead."

The Hound stalked his prey through the bushes, his pike in one hand and the other bending the branches to hide him. Dark Lady Donatella hit Darius of the Netherworld on his good arm, Andy previously having disposed of the other.

"Darius of the Netherworld loses use of left arm for one minute."

Sam leapt from the bushes with a bloodcurdling battle cry and drove his pike into Darius' chest.

"Darius of the Netherworld is dead."

Felipe and his second, Sir Wodawick, crouched at the base of a large oak. "It's six on four now, with two seasoned LARPers being taken out by these amateurs!"

"Amateurs act in unexpected ways, they are untrained, they don't follow scripts or plays or rules." Wodawick closed his eyes and inhaled through his nose and exhaled through his thin pale lips. "Those of us left will need to think like them to beat them – we're being picked off one by one in this godforsaken place! We need to regroup, assemble, attack en masse."

"You're absolutely right." Felipe stroked his chin before cupping a hand around his mouth. "Cuh-CAW ... cuh-CAW!"

The remainder of Sir Felipius' group responded to their leader's call and immediately headed toward the agreed meeting spot, mindful of being seen and followed by their hunters. The four LARP veterans huddled in the large bush, awaiting instruction from their leader.

"They are spread thin right now, searching the Forest of Valour for prey to pick off. We move as one, we attack as one and we make our way to the castle to dispense with the Stackhouse nuisance!"

The Knights of De Castronia nodded and moved from their hiding spot, stepping carefully over branches toward the target. At the castle, Leonarda and Raphael spoke in hushed tones to a rustling plant.

"They're doing something." Sookie narrowed her eyes at the trees. "Probably readying for an all-out attack on us."

"We need the whole group here, to defend if they make a show of force and to formulate another tactic. There are more of us than them; they wouldn't be able to take all of us, even with our inexperience." Riddick offered from his camouflaged position.

Eric nodded to the bush and put a hand on Sookie's shoulder. "I'll rally the troops, will you be okay?"

Leonarda thought for a moment before tapping her katanas together. "Go. Qu ... Riddick is still here, Felipe may assume I'm alone and become cocky. You know him, he can't resist a monologue when he thinks he's winning, then you and the others can strike from the rear."

With a brief but passionate kiss, Raphael was off and running into the trees. Sir Felipus watched carefully as Sookie was left alone at the castle.

"We're missing something; he wouldn't leave her all alone like that." Felipe mused. "We'll sweep the perimeter of the clearing, check every bush and every lower branch, 6 foot spread."

Sir Wodawick, Mistress Kali and The Queen of Pain nodded and spread out, but not so far away from each other that they weren't within striking distance. The Dark Lady Donatella and Master Oyabun watched from their hiding place, they'd been tracking the foursome since they regrouped. Raphael, not really knowing how to gather the rest of their group, crept through the trees, keeping his eyes peeled for anyone – friend or foe.

"You should be more careful." Sam's voice from behind him made him still his movements.

"We need to regroup, gather at the castle."

"I was on my way there when I found you. The Dark Lady Donatella and Master Oyabun are tracking the remainder of the Knights of De Castronia."

"Excellent. Soo ... Leonarda and Riddick are the only ones there at the moment. We should get back."

Sam nodded and the two quickly made their way back to base. Sookie was on edge and immediately took a fighting stance when she heard their approach; Sam scowled as the bush next to her shook its branches.

"Relax; it's just The Hound and Raphael." The bush stilled and Sookie lowered her weapons. "What news, gentlemen?"

"Sir Felipius and what's left of his team are sticking close together; Master Oyabun and the Dark Lady Donatella are tracking them. Where is Riddick?" Sam asked and the bush answered with a shake of its branches.

Felipe and his team finished their sweep of the trees surrounding the clearing that held the castle ... and Sookie. The unnatural movements of the bush closest to them made Sir Felipius smirk and make a hand signal pointing toward it to alert his three companions to the danger lurking within the leaves.

"We attack from the other side, it's four on four and we can take them in a frontal assault. We only need to strike her down before the other two from their army show up to join the fun."

They made their way around to the opposite flank but before they could get there they were ambushed. Pam and Chow leapt from behind a tree and attacked without mercy ... or sacrifice. They both fell to the experienced LARPers, but not without taking one of them down too. The skirmish in the tree line alerted those defending the castle and Sir Felipius' element of surprise was destroyed. Without waiting to regroup, he ran toward Leonarda with his sword aloft and a warrior cry in his heart.

Sookie's eyes widened as the inevitable clash of swords approached, Riddick jumped from his bush to defend her but it was too late. Sir Felipius' aim was expert and true. He roared his triumph over his slain foe.

"The Fellowship of Turtles wins!"

"What?" Felipe screeched and spun to find Riddick waving the blue scarf that the bald brute had plucked from his glove as he attacked, when he hadn't even touched the red one tied to Leonarda's belt.

Sookie laughed and hauled herself back into a standing position. "You forgot the aim of the game, Felipe. You let your vendetta against me cloud what your purpose was on this field today and your defences were insufficient."

"Good game everyone!" The stewards applauded and everyone trudged back to the picnic tables for some much needed sustenance.


	13. The Boy in the Iceberg

**Electric Limbo**

Chapter 13 – The Boy in the Iceberg

_Short Epilogue_

Eric checked his outfit in the mirror one last time, still marvelling at the changes in his life. He would never have guessed when he first met Sookie, that a mere two years later he would be taking such a huge step. Bill smacked his shoulder and grinned at him.

"It's time."

Eric nodded and blew a long, cleansing breath from his nose before stepping from behind the curtain that separated him from those who had gathered to witness this special day.

"Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome Eric Northman dressed as Lion-o to the stage! This is Eric's first time entering Louisiana Comicon's cosplay competition!"

Lion-o strode to the middle of the stage of Bossier Civic Centre and held the Sword of Omens out in front of him, the spotlight obscuring his vision as he spun around using the special effect button on the sword.

"Thunder! Thunder! Thunder! Thundercats – Hoooooooooo!"

The applause was deafening as his prop extend to its full length and the eye of Thundera glowed red above his head. He turned when he heard his name being called and one of the organisers beckoned him off stage and behind the curtain on the opposite side of the stage that he had emerged from. He walked down the stairs to find his friends ready to congratulate his performance.

Until he met Sookie, he had been static, alone in his interests. As he gazed at her, in full Water Tribe dress, he realised that she was his Katara – bringing him out of the ice he had encased himself in and believing he was capable of being so much more.

"Oh my God! Your costume is soooooo amazing!" Eric turned to see a small red haired woman waving a camera at Sookie. "I gotta have a picture with this guy!"

Sookie smiled and took the photo, handing the camera back to the woman with a nod before wrapping her arms around her Lion-o. "You were great up there and the sword worked perfectly!"

"Of course it did." Eric said bluntly before moving his lips close to Sookie's ear and lowering his voice. "My sword _always_ works perfectly."

He grinned at the slight blush that bloomed on Sookie's cheeks and the naughty twinkle in her eyes as she smiled and replied. "Shiny!"

_Buy Everything – Shreveport_

Andre threw a hateful look at Felipe as he turned off the lights, for the last time. It had been a tough battle but the best store won. SB Electrical had the prices, talent and customer service to, not only compete with Buy Everything, but to completely wipe them off the face of the map. Of course, if Felipe hadn't pushed all the Buy Everything staff into some weird pissing contest with Sookie Stackhouse then the November Blue Flu wouldn't have happened.

"I should have fired you that day you closed the store to go running around in the park with a plastic sword. Not that it would have made any difference; we'd still be closing down, decreased footfall, no one taking advantage of the manager's specials ... anyway, what do you have lined up now?"

Felipe's face sagged and he dropped his head in shame. "Sookie offered me a job at SB; they're starting up a home visit service for tech support."

"So no more pranking?"

"No. What about you?"

"I'm heading down to New Orleans; the flagship store is in some trouble ... apparently they can't keep a female member of staff working there for more than a month." Andre scratched his chin in thought. "Except the assistant manager, Hadley, she's been there a while. Either way, Sophie-Anne wants to keep me around as a trouble shooter, going from store to store ... fixing staff-type stuff."

"Good for you, Andre. I'm ... I'm really glad that all my fuck-ups didn't ruin your chances to progress."

Andre locked the doors and lowered the shutters, blinking back tears at the shoddily painted 'closing down sale!' on the corrugated metal. "Y'know, Felipe, the answer to all your problems is simple. Stop fucking up. Keep your head down, do the best you can and, for the love of God, don't pick any more fights."

_Bon Temps Baptist Church_

Adele wept quiet, dignified, tears of joy as the handsome groom kissed his beautiful bride. Since Caroline had passed away, Andy had become like a son to her and Halleigh was perfect for him. Sookie sniffed next to her and Adele squeezed her hand.

The new Mr and Mrs Bellefleur turned to rapturous applause and rushed out of the church, followed by the crowd throwing rice and confetti as Halleigh, smiling widely, turned away tossed her bouquet into the air. Sookie and Pam stood their ground at the doorway as the other women stampeded, hands aloft, to catch the flowers.

"Aren't you coming?" Lorena squeaked excitedly.

Sookie and Pam slowly shook their heads from side to side, wide eyed at the trajectory of the bouquet and both wincing as it hit Lorena on the side of the face, covering her in pollen. Quick as a wink, Lorena recovered and turned her yellow and orange powdered complexion towards Bill.

"I got it, sweetie! I got it!"

Bill paled. "Seven Hells!"

_The Stackhouse Homestead_

"Nnngggghhh!" Eric was often without coherent verbalisations when he was visiting Sookie; she popped her head out from under the comforter, grinning as she crawled back up his body. "What are you doing to me, woman?"

"I can bend _all_ the elements." She winked.

"Your Gran will be back soon, I should get dressed."

"One day you won't need to." Sookie smiled and pecked him on the cheek before jumping out of bed and righting her clothes.

"Gran will be around for a long time yet – she's not going anywhere."

"Nope, but _we _are." Sookie tossed a pile of papers on the bed.

Eric flicked through them with one hand while pushing his feet into his jeans. "What is this?"

"It's our house, silly!"

"_Our _house?" Eric quirked an eyebrow.

"Yeah, I don't think you realise how much land we Stackhouses own – at the bottom of the hill I'm having a house built ... for us ... to live in."

"Well, look at you Miss High Handed!"

"I learned from the best, Eric."

They laughed and tumbled on the bed, kissing for the joy of it and this is how it would always be.

-Fin-


End file.
